Howard Wershil -- Variations and Varietals

There is tragedy occurring in Ukraine.  So many causes need our attention and monetary donations throughout the world, with Ukraine being a grave situation at this moment in time.  

Should you choose to purchase this piece, know that I will be donating a portion of the proceeds to one or more well-vetted organizations assisting the citizens of Ukraine in areas of health, food, shelter, and emigration. 

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Years ago, I was a fan of Harlan Ellison’s science fiction writing.  In one of his short story anthologies, for each story, save one, there were useful and enlightening introductory notes, drawing the reader into the unique fascination of each story.  For the exception, however, referred to in various notes for the other stories in the anthology, the notation was simply, as I recall, “I have nothing to say about this.”  Part of me feels that, for this most recent composition of mine, I should offer the same.  But I’m afraid you’re simply out of luck, as I give in to the part of me that needs to share.

It's really quite strange, you know, this return to composing after 18 years of relative inactivity.  Strange, and astonishing.  When I began this project, I came to my workshop with clear intents.   But as I began to browse through my many available software instruments, and improvise with each of them, I found a sound compelling enough to persuade me to ignore my original intents.  Lost baggage, perhaps?  Found treasure?  Who knows?

At this point, I consider the piece a sketch.  A sketch can become something richer, more colorful, more defined, with added depth and nuance.  A sketch can simply remain a sketch, and garner its own dignity and honor in its essential form.  For now, let’s consider the piece a work in progress, perhaps to be completed later, with richer materials, and brighter sonorities; or to be declared complete at a later date, or perhaps abandoned, as I move on to newer and stronger challenges.  

For now, It Is What It Is.  I profess no ability to predict its future.

What is this music expressing?  A sense of the ongoing struggle of humanity to evolve?  To survive?  To excel?  Is the piece an anthem for our turbulent times, or a mere study in the effect of reiteration?  As composers, we hear as we compose as we perform as we compose as we hear as we perform as we compose… ad infinitum, simultaneously and sequentially, in varying lengths and random orders.  But what the composer hears is not what the listener hears.  What is the listener hearing?

What are you hearing?
 
Why “A Candle (For Ukraine)”?  Title selection can occur at any point of the compositional process, beginning to end.  In this case, I chose the final title, after considering several iterations of various titles, over half-way through the process, as I was listening to what I was composing, and using the feedback of what I heard to both compose and to title.  Some of us… some of you… do have a strong sense that we live in extraordinarily tenuous times.  Perhaps I was tuning in to a kind of zeitgeist, letting it work its art of persuasion on my abilities to title a composition.  Perhaps, as some of you, I am simply reacting to the texture of the fabric of our times.

As mentioned earlier, I will be donating a portion of proceeds from this to organizations assisting humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.  But you certainly don’t need to purchase a piece of music to support the causes and situations you believe in.  Obviously.  Perhaps I’m simply hoping to have written music that elicits a response.  

In that spirit, I welcome your feedback.  Have a Listen.  Share a Thought.  Express your point of view as part of a family, a community, a country, a planet, where we can foster the best from each other, if only we elect to do so.  

And please… continue to persevere, whatever your talents or interests.  

For yourself.
For things that matter.
For all of us.


Howard Wershil		September 2022

A Candle (For Ukraine)

Phrygian Fantasy No.9

Out takes from session on Feb 11 2015.  Working with some new techniques and sounds.

Feb 11 Part 5

The Invisible

Wetiko is not for easy listening, this is hard listening. Ideally this should be listened to at maximum volume with plenty of bass. A powerful sound system for a large venue would be best. Sounds used - about 80% guitar, 10% esraj (Indian string instrument) and 10% string samples

Wetiko

Nathan Davis, Cactus (1999)

Homage to John Cage

The idea for a cactus and tape work came about when I heard a performance of John Cage’s Child of Tree.  I was immediately smitten by the sound of the cactus in particular.  Taken from its natural environment and placed in the confined and groomed existence of a pot, amplified with a contact microphone, the cactus took on a completely new and interesting character, however paradoxical.   Without the amplification its subtle and poignant resonance goes largely unnoticed.  The relationship between natural objects and their unnatural extension is the metaphor which inspired Grandchild of Tree.  I am deeply indebted to Nathan Davis for his amazing cactus technique and samples! 

Degrees of Separation, Grandchild of Tree

Music for Sauntering Cows

An interesting caveat to consider metaphysically as well as geographically:  that perhaps the most interesting efforts in contemporary music do not occur in our major cities, but in areas one might seldom think to explore.  Such a premise was suggested by Kyle Gann, in New York’s Village Voice, in reviewing my composition, ‘to release... to allow... to emerge...’, premiered by The Atlanta Contemporary Chamber Ensemble for New Music America 1992 at Georgia State University.  

I've been creating works since 1972, premiered at such venues as Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, The Electric Mountain Music Festival of Central Wyoming College, the 11th and 16th Annual International Electronic Music PLUS festivals, the Festival Synthese Bourges in France, and Atlanta’s own Eyedrum.  I've also performed with the avant-garde performing group Phobia Nova at venues including Atlanta’s Railroad Earth (in conjunction with Pauline Oliveros) and The Contemporary, and, through Composers’ Resources, an organization I founded in 1980, sponsored performances of contemporary instrumental and electronic music by some of the world’s most noted and interesting composers.  

Can a 20th/21st century composer maintain music creativity as an art form free to explore new areas and uncover new truths about sound, time, aesthetics, and our relationship to these elements as both individuals and a society, while surviving on an ever-more challenging planet?  Maybe... with some energy, some luck, some talent, and the inspiration of some very energetic, talented, and amenable colleagues!

And time.  

Time is Music.  Time is Memory.  Time is Achievement.  Time is Life.

Music for Sauntering Cows

Nameless Jones

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