The story behind Scorpions & The Many Songs goes back to 2011 when I learned about a field of scientific study known as Soundscape Ecology. In this field scientists record vast amounts of audio and use these recordings to learn about ecosystems. For example, acoustic diversity can be used as a proxy for biodiversity. Recording audio over a period of years can reveal how biodiversity changes over time, how an ecosystem is affected by human land use, etc. Additionally one finds that the natural soundscapes themselves are beautiful, intrinsically valuable and sadly endangered by anthropic (human-generated) noise.

Intrigued, I found an online audio database hosted by the Global Sustainable Soundscapes Network (GSSN). Using a file I found there, I composed Blankets & Bioluminescence for Violin, Cello, Piano, Drumset and Recorded Soundscape. This work led to an invitation to participate in GSSN’s Sonoran Desert Workshop in Oracle, Arizona in July 2013. Scorpions & The Many Songs is the result of this experience.

The desert has a unique acoustic signature. It is open and unobstructed, allowing you to hear sounds at a great distance. It can be very quiet and still, but surprisingly alive and diverse. The desert is both beautiful and extreme.

Two recordings are used in Scorpions & The Many Songs. The first movement, Scorpions, begins with a nighttime recording, which sits in the sonic foreground. This soundscape was recorded in Oracle, AZ (coordinates 32.601278, -110.736383) at 10:30 PM on July 13, 2013. The string quartet accompanies this soundscape with delicate stillness. A long series of chords starts with brittle, cold harmonics at the top of the range and descends through the entire range of the string quartet. As we approach morning, the chords become more consonant and warm. Scorpions is about the heightened sense of listening and scanning for danger that we experience when out in nature in the middle of the night. At the end of this tension, we experience the relief and comfort of the sunrise as warm consonant chords are played over a morning chorus soundscape.

The morning chorus was recorded at the Bonita Grasslands acoustic listening site in the Chiricahua National Monument (coordinates 32.011472, -109.38625) on May 8, 2013 at 5:00 AM. It was recorded by an SM2 acoustic sensor as part of a study by the GSSN. I chose this particular morning chorus for its richness and diversity and because a white-winged dove can be heard. I find the presence of the white-winged dove’s distinctive call to be a personal keynote from the region; something I am not accustomed to hearing elsewhere.

The soundscape continues as the second movement, The Many Songs, begins. This movement uses a Native American song as a launching point. Barnaby Lewis, Tribal Historian and member of the Akimel O'odham tribe, came to the workshop to share with us songs of the Akimel O'odham. One of the songs was particularly inspiring. The translation was given as:

Who among you has seen!
Over at the foot of the sunrise, the bright ancient house stands.
Inside are many kinds of song.
I opened, and saw the many songs.

You will hear the melody played by pizzicato cello near the beginning of the movement. As if the bright ancient house has been opened, the many songs begin to spring forth until they take over the entire string quartet.

Scorpion cover photo by Mark V. Lomolino
released 20 December 2013 
Mitchell Drury - Violin 1 
Candice Chin - Violin 2 
Stephen Creswell - Viola 
Brad Hawkins - Cello 
Recorded at Opus4 Studios Bothell, Washington October 6, 2013

Bandcamp

Scorpions & The Many Songs (String Quartet No. 3)

This composition is for a handbell choir of 13 ringers.  It was composed for entry into a contest but did not win.  Thus it is now available to any handbell choir that wants to give it a try!

City Of Refuge MIDI - Unpremiered

Candice Chin, Violin
Matthew James Briggs, Composer, Percussion, Electronics

“Centaurus X-3 (4U 1118-60) is an X-ray pulsar with a period of 4.84 seconds. It was the first X-ray pulsar to be discovered, and the third X-ray source to be discovered in the constellation Centaurus. The system consists of a neutron star orbiting a massive, O-type supergiant star dubbed Krzeminski’s star after its discoverer. Matter is being accreted from the star onto the neutron star, resulting in X-rayemission.” (Wikipedia)

That a star can exist out there, otherwise invisible to us except for a regular burst of X-ray radiation ever 4.84 seconds, is truly spectacular. Krzeminski's Star attempts to characterize the sense of wonder and mystery of being such a small creature in such a large universe.

The piece has three internal movements in the form slow-fast-slow. There is no silence between movements as the electronics make sonic transitions from one to the next.The first movement sets up the mysterious mood. In the electronics a wave of sound pulses every 4.84 seconds. NASA transmissions (from STS-31) are used to complete the space theme. The second movement retains a mysterious character but becomes a bit more playful with rhythmic hemiolas and unison melodic lines. The third movement returns to the character of the first as we again ponder the deep.

Krzeminski's Star

The Incident at Ezinar is an exciting, full-speed-ahead, composition for chamber orchestra in a post-minimalistic style.  It was composed in March and April of 2015.  It is an intense one-way composition which is always driving forward.  Tension, which builds throughout, is not released until the final note.  The orchestra gets a strenuous workout, especially viola, cello and bass, which provide the engine of forward momentum throughout.

Where is Ezinar?  What happened there?  These mysteries are left to the listener's imagination.

Website

The Incident at Ezinar

Released under the artist name: framedragger.

In 2011 I heard on NPR an interview of scientists engaged in the study of Soundscape Ecology.  This discipline involves recording audio of natural soundscapes and analyzing the contents to reveal features of ecosystems.  I found this fascinating and was impressed by the enthusiasm of the guests, Bryan Pijanowski and Bernie Kraus, who both describe natural soundscapes in musical terms.
Later, when composing my debut album of electronic music, I decided that I wanted the last track to be acoustic, organic, and to function as a reprieve from the sounds that preceded it.  Recalling the work of the soundscape ecologists I embarked on an Internet search that led me to a storehouse of these soundscape recordings.

Having moved from Indiana to Seattle in 2006, I was drawn to Indiana soundscape recordings I found on the site which brought back memories of the soundscapes I had taken for granted.

Blankets & Bioluminescence is written for Piano, Violin, Cello and drum set.  Rather than interacting directly with the soundscape, the music takes place against the soundscape as backdrop.  It’s as if we wheeled a piano and drum set out into the woods and began to play.

This is probably the simplest composition I have ever written consisting of a repeated chord on the piano and the Violin and Cello playing only two notes each.  Nonetheless, a large-scale polyrhythm gives the piece direction and resolves into a satisfying locked groove about two thirds of the way through the piece.

As a result of this composition, I have become connected to the community of scientists and artists that pursue soundscape ecology.  I have been invited to attend the Global Sustainable Soundscape Network’s 2013 Sonoran Desert Workshop and I plan to compose future works that feature soundscape recordings.

The score and parts as well as an audio file of the soundscape are available for download.  The recording is available on Bandcamp.

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Blankets & Bioluminescence

Water with Soundscape combines the ethereal beauty of a light rain with the haunting melodies and sonorities of the first movement of my second string quartet.  The intention of the work is to focus on the pleasing aesthetic of water and it's importance in our lives.

Water

Steve Creswell, Viola
Sean Osborn, Bass Clarinet
Catherine Case, Harp
Rob Tucker, Percussion
Al Berg, Piano

Matthew James Briggs, Composer, Producer

1. Glacier
2. Northeast Harbor, Snowbound
3. March of the Polar Bears
4. Lonely Icicle
5. Melting Piece

Freezing Pieces is a set of five miniature movements composed in December of 2000 and finished in January 2001 at Indiana University in Bloomington. It was premiered in March 2001 at a composition department recital.

Each of the movements depicts an imagined winter scene. The style is sparse, cold and pointillistic. I was quite taken with the music of Anton Webern at the time, which is apparent in the thin textures and brevity of the pieces.

With Melting Piece, winter breaks. A distant thunderstorm is heard (bass drums) and winter drips away (viola pizzicato). The storm passes and Freezing Pieces fades to silence.

Score © 2001, 2015
Recording © 2015

QM-MJ9-15-00201
QM-MJ9-15-00202
QM-MJ9-15-00203
QM-MJ9-15-00204
QM-MJ9-15-00205

Matthew James Briggs

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