This is very beautiful!! Love the oriental/jewish color to melodies!

Robert always has a very elegant approach to texture!

Beautiful and the expresiveness in it in all your works is excellent. Great job , Robert.

super playful piece of art my dear friend.....Loved it very much....love and blessings

Hypnosis in action ! And then a Celtic surprise 😮 after which a eloquent concertation between a bunch of virtuosos . What a delight!

Sophisticated, jaunty and surprising. Nice work.

wonderful music. thanks  a lot .so nice, sweet and organic

Amazingly complex but extremely listenable composition. It sounds like it would be a real challenge to perform. The musicians are impeccable.

Through thick and thin, everyone needs those whom they can count on. As in life, the music can get dark and then the light shines through, as we rise to go on with the help of our friends and loved ones.

As you may notice, the cover art harkens back to a familiar cover from 1973 and that is intentional, because Andrea and Rebecca are strongly influenced by music from that time period. Many fans of 8000 Miles’ first album, Aggregate, have remarked on that influence. The title Crystal Confetti represents the clarity 8000 Miles is honing in their duo’s style and the contrast of weighted moods and flying inspirations.

The entire album, Crystal Confetti, has been released on Bandcamp. Go to https://8000miles.bandcamp.com to check it out and follow 8000 Miles on Bandcamp to get first notices of new releases.

\m/ Love Music and Stay Safe <3

Credits:
Rebecca Williams - bass, percussion, synths, production.
Andrea Pierantoni - guitars, production.
Mixing and mastering by Andrea at Never Enough Cowbell Studios.
Cover art by Rebecca
SafeCreative Registration code: 2201300363460
© 2022 8000 Miles All rights reserved.

Crystal Confetti

Count On Me

Buy our Music 🔥

Seq96aaaaa A      Escalation The Situation Is Now Out Of Control

Who I Really Am (Anna's Song, Track 7)

Caelum (Heaven)

"This short collection explores some of my deepest fears and darkest moments, and it's not particularly healthy, but it's a start. Comprising of four tracks, each depicting/exploring a different stage of my recent metal state.
I don't know if this exploration of the heart and mind is a musical direction I'm going to follow, but in a twisted sort of way I enjoyed the creation of these soundscapes and textures in an effort to portray a particular emotion or narrative, rather than making music for the sake of making music for the sake of headspace."

⚠️ Content warning: DDD, Suicide

TLDR: My heads fucked, but I made some music, I am seriously grateful to anyone who's spares the time to give it a listen.

Caelum

Ask the Dust

Which Way

Dont Flinch [ Fazioli Grand Piano Edition ]

String Quartet no.2, in C minor, Movement 2 "1018"

Duration: ca. 7'
Performed by U.S. Coast Guard Band (Live Performance), Richard Wyman, Conductor
For more information: https://robertpaterson.com/firecracker-alley
Publisher - Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=firecracker

PROGRAM NOTES
Growing up, one of my favorite pastimes was setting off firecrackers with friends. We knew our parents wouldn't approve and would punish us if they found out—which made it all the more exciting—so we would meet in a secluded neighborhood alley. We had all sorts of firecrackers with crazy sounding names like Thunder Bombs, Crrackfires, Cherry Bombs, Sonic Booms, and so on, not to mention bottle rockets.

Setting off firecrackers made us feel empowered. We were literally playing with fire and knew we were doing something dangerous—after all, we could lose a finger, or even an eye—but it was exciting all the same. We would purchase fireworks from shops across the Canadian border where they were legal. Or, more accurately, we would find teenagers with cars and a penchant for mischief; they had quite a racket selling fireworks on the sly to younger kids in the neighborhood.

Part of the fun in creating Firecracker Alley was figuring out which effects sound firecracker-like. Of course, I call for multiple slapsticks, but there are also loud drums, rim shots, whistles, lines in the winds that are reminiscent of bottle rockets. Through it all, there are fanfare-like brass passages that capture the excitement and joy of setting off firecrackers.

Firecracker Alley for Wind Band (Live)

Duration: ca. 21'
Music by Robert Paterson • Lyrics by David Cote

Instrumentation: soprano and chamber ensemble (wind doubler [flute, B-flat clarinet, oboe], violin, cello, percussion, piano)
Performed by American Modern Ensemble, Marnie Breckenridge, Soprano
Formerly titled "In Real Life."

Purchase Sheet Music: (Version for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble): http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=2778

Purchase Sheet Music: (Version for Soprano and Piano): http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=2777

For more information:
Version for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble: https://robertpaterson.com/in-real-life-version-for-soprano-and-chamber-ensemble
Version for Soprano and Piano: https://robertpaterson.com/in-real-life-version-for-soprano-and-piano

In Real Life II for baritone and chamber ensemble and baritone and piano also available. (In Real Life II consists of different songs than In Real Life.)

PROGRAM NOTE
Forty million Americans do it: join a dating site hoping to find true love in digital space. In Real Life is a song cycle for soprano and piano that explores the humor and heartbreak of this modern ritual. Five women fill out their dating-site profiles, opening a window into their worlds. The first song is “A Regular Woman,” in which a lady outlines the exact sort of man she’s looking for with comical specificity, perfect for today’s on-demand culture. “Late Bloomer” is a sweet and wistful portrait of a woman who learns in her 40s that her romantic tastes have changed radically. Next, in “Anastasia,” we hear from a Russian looking for a husband—with all the broken English that entails. With “Collateral,” the mood turns dark, as a war widow contemplates returning to the dating pool. Finally, “Rewind” is a nostalgic anthem by a 35-year-old whose divorce has made her feel like an awkward teen again. Can she learn something from her younger self? Funny and sad yet full of hope, In Real Life is about reality, fantasy and second chances. In Real Life was commissioned by Austin Chamber Ensemble Artistic Director Martha Mortensen Ahern, in honor of its 35th season.

American Modern Ensemble: In Real Life

In Real Life I - III. Anastasia

Written: 2018-19
Duration: ca. 25'
Commissioned by J.K. Billman
Premiere: Euclid Quartet, Mostly Modern Festival, Arthur Zankel Music Center, June 25, 2019
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com
For more info.: https://robertpaterson.com/string-quartet-no-2

PROGRAM NOTES
In some ways, String Quartet No. 2 is similar to my String Quartet No. 1: the five movements are stylistically diverse, I use a few snippets of pre-existing music, and the music, while idiomatic, is technically demanding. As with my first quartet, this work explores technical and aesthetic ideas I didn’t have a chance to explore in other works.

The first movement, Colored Fields, is inspired by abstract expressionist painters such as Mark Rothko, Kenneth Noland, and Barnett Newman, but also pointillist painters such as Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. There are textures that emerge and submerge using articulations that gradually shift from soft to loud, or short to long, and there are a few transitions that utilize a technique I call pitch phasing or phase modulation, as opposed to tempo phasing. In these transitions, two or more instruments gradually modulate (raise or lower) notes, motives, or phrases by gradual, very refined, microtonal, non-chromatic increments, settling on new pitch areas that directly reflect the previous areas, just modulated up or town. The movement ends softly with a virtual desaturation of the rhythmic material. I remove notes, one by one, until there’s nothing left.

The second movement, Rigor Mortis, is inspired by a comic strip by David Lynch that newspapers ran for many years. In this strip, Lynch sketched a stressed-out, pitch-black dog, looking very mean and almost buzzing with anger; it looked like it was about to explode. Every strip began with an accompanying paragraph that read, “The dog who is so angry he cannot move. He cannot eat. He cannot sleep. He can just barely growl. Bound so tightly with tension and anger, he approaches the state of rigor mortis.” This made me envision musicians playing with such ferocity and tension that the music seems to eventually cancel itself out, anger imploding in on itself.

The third movement, Dolente, is sad, lush, and mournful. The only request I had when writing this quartet was to incorporate a Norwegian fiddle tune or theme by Edvard Grieg, so I chose themes from Grieg’s String Quartet No. 1. The form of this movement mimics the form of a song by Edvard Grieg’s entitled Spillemaend (Minstrels, or Fiddlers). The poem that Grieg set in 1876 as the first of Six Ibsen Songs (Op. 25) is based on the Norwegian folktale of the fossegrim, a male water spirit who could teach the art of violin-playing, but often at the price of personal happiness. In some versions of the story, the poor violinist drowns in the end. Like the song, and echoing the second movement, this movement beginning with the protagonist’s longing, his desire for the beloved. Next, he encounters the fossegrim, who promises that becoming a master of music will allow the protagonist to become master of his beloved. In the final stanza, the protagonist becomes a master fiddler, but he is now a cursed, wandering musician deprived of earthly love, so he drowns himself.

The humorous fourth movement, Scherzando, capitalizes on effects that at times, often make the string players sound inebriated. I make use of copious glissandi and tempos that fluctuate between 3/4 and 6/8, giving a sense of unease.

The final movement, Collage, is similar to the first movement in that it is inspired by the visual arts, and specifically, collage painting and works by surrealists. Many themes from the first four movements are brought together in this odd-metered movement.

String Quartet No. 2 commissioned by J. K. Billman and is written for and dedicated to the Euclid Quartet.

The Indianapolis Quartet: Robert Paterson - String Quartets 1-3

String Quartet No. 2 - III. Dolente

American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker—born and bred in Buffalo, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs, near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces a wide variety of themes, everything from goddesses and online dating to mathematics and the environment. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Paterson is the winner of the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poem, Dark Mountains, regularly airs on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with Nashville Opera, then BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and across the United States. Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, The Oratorio Society of New York, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Musica Sacra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and ensembles worldwide perform his works. Paterson gives masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and more. He is the Artistic Director and house composer for Mostly Modern Projects. Robert is a lifelong vegan and advocates for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with ground-breaking works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees.

String Quartet No. 2 - III. Dolente

Robert Paterson Composer

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