Live performance of the 'Legend of Korra Suite'. Performed September 14, 2014 at the Playfest animation and game music festival in Malaga, Spain. Orchestrated by Christopher Rozé. Conducted by Oscar Senen. Erhu, Zhonghu and Dizi performed by Hong Wang.

Choir text:
'boundless

asunder
asunder
divided
once apart
now united

oh (mm)
oh (mmm)
(now) united

never still
always change
always change
always...
always two,
dark and light

all is change
never still
throughout time!

a place away
a place away from all light
the coldest place
is not boundless
not boundless
in a place
away from light
once apart 
now united

all is change
all is change
all is change
nothing is still
wavering form
passing through time'

The Legend of Korra Suite - Playfest 2014, Malaga



This represents an affinity I have had for the baroque dance form for quite some time. There will be plenty more in the future, for sure!

This was performed by Emily Coughlin on violin and myself on viola.


Suite No. 1, Op. 14/1 - I. Prelude

Sonatina for Bassoon
Vincent LaMonica (Op. 14, 2014)
Ronald Haroutunian, bassoon
Jennifer Elowsky-Fox, piano

Published by T.D. Ellis Music Publications.  Available at this link: 
http://www.themusicsource.org/lamonicavincentsonatinaop14forbassoonandpiano.aspx

Recorded on April 19th, 2015, at Mechanics Hall (Worcester, MA) by William Jones.

Made possible in part through a University of Connecticut IDEA Grant.

Op. 14, Sonatina for Bassoon and Piano

Two diametric attitudes account for much of today's art music.  

One faction feels that the intrinsic beauty and meaning of raw sound requires a nearly artless music; bending sounds into elements of a language would amount to disrespect.   Were they gardeners, these composers might find that stones, as natural forms, serve as well as plants.

The opposite faction expects the composer to master a gamut of received languages and apply them eclectically in pursuit of emotional narratives.  Were they gardeners, these composers might trim and shape plants into topiary, and arrange flowers to make fields of color and design.

Here I find myself taking a third way.  My focus is on the configurations of tones (rather than the tones themselves) that one could very generally term melody and harmony.  But my work centers on breeding new flowers (i.e. principles of melodic and harmonic organization), and then letting the garden grow wild (organic organization rather than narrative, gesture or any sort of imposed musical "form.")

A dedicated microtonalist for many years, I have focused this year on the traditional chromatic scale (in order to make music people, and not just computers, can play).  The present work inaugurates a novel 12-tone system.  Unlike Schoenberg's system, this music does not derive from any tone row(s).   Rather the "key" consists of a non-linear configuration of the 12 tones - so picture 12 cities connected by highways, three entering and leaving each city.   The music temporally unfolds this underlying structure which in itself exists outside of time.  The city-highway structure offers enough flexibility already that the usual transposition and inversion need play no role.  So particular tones have particular tendencies, as in tonal music, but chromatic saturation reigns, as in serial music.

Rather than a single city-highway "key," here five contrasting keys provide the ear with suitably subtle shifts of intervallic color.




 

Wild Garden, for String Quartet (Not Your Grandparents' 12-tone music II)

Springbokkie was written in 2015 for the fresh inc. festival.

Performance date: June 20th at UW-Parkside

Flute - Marissa Mediati
Clarinet - Meghan Yankowkas
Oboe - Daniel Holland
Horn - Valerie Whitney
Bassoon - Alex Meaux
Double Bass - Eric Snoza


Springbokkie - for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and double bass

Featuring Janelle Monáe, Deep Cotton, St. Beauty, Jidenna, Roman GianArthur, and George 2.0.

Hell You Talmbout

Say You Will (Ft. Caroline Shaw)

Latrodectus (2016)

This is the first recorded performance of my new piece "Drums of the Dead." This is my attempt to create an audial representation of data on gun deaths in America. I composed this piece using data from a article published by Slate.com on the homicides and suicides in America from 2013.

The piece is in four movements but this recording only has the first two. In each movement I use three separate instruments to represent different categories. One for Males over 18, another for Females over 18 and the final instrument is for children under 18. Each time a performer strikes an instrument it represents a death by gun. There are four performers who represent different areas of the United States; North East, South East, Midwest, West (including Texas). 

The first movement "Cold Steel" uses data from the months of January, February, and March. The three instruments I use are Metal Trash Can, Males; Brake Drum, Females; and a cowbell; children. Each time a performer strikes an instrument it represents a death by gun. 

The second movement "les augures printemps", an ode to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. This movement uses cymbals to represent the month of April, May, and June. The lowest sounding cymbal is Males, the middle cymbal is Females, and the highest sounding cymbal is children. 

I hope you enjoy this recording and I would love to hear any feedback or reactions! This is not an attempt to create political discussion but rather a personal exploration of this issue. 

Please share!

Drums Of The Dead.WAV

We are number one - but this time - only the original sound effects!

WE ARE NUMBER ONE - SFX

Hey all - this is my music page! Feel free to stay listen for awhile.

Suite No. 1, Op. 14/1 - I. Prelude

Nathan Faro

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