This music is about how we are all fucked and Trump will destroy the Earth, as I've been fucking telling you idiots for the last ten fucking goddamned years and you just sat on your ass doing nothing. Happy Death. 2025

Nonet in Polytempic 12tet, updated version, for English Horn, Trumpet, Violin, Viola, Cello, two Marimbae, Piano and Guitar

The title track of forthcoming album. Where we grow up can define us - or we can break the barriers, at this point in time, we all feel enclosed.

The light
That grows
When the night turns
Colder

So close
To the mist 
That breaths the air

To you
I have been
For the light 
Is between
Us
And tied
To the beat and the hum of the rain

All
The dreams that haunt you 
All 
The more I need you 

But her eyes remain wild
While the storm, it  is receeding
Desire 
Is as pale as the moon in the day

To you
I will be
For the light 
Remains between
Us
But tired
The beat of the drum has grown old

All
The dreams that haunt you 
All  
The more that I want you 
All   
The more I can dream
Dream
Out loud

At ease with the words
Again
At ease with the world
Again
At ease with the words
Again
At ease
With the last light

Mystimatica

A brilliant future will lie ahead if the path of wisdom is taken.

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of a lifelong attempt to acquire it."
 -Albert Einstein-

Re-Mixed 01/12/2024

Avalon

Avalon, 2320 AD

Anxiety

The first single from "Through It All: Prologue". All music and lyrics written and produced by Hunter Barrow. All artwork by Lauren Swift.
https://www.facebook.com/hunterbarrowofficial
https://www.facebook.com/laurenswiftartwork
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaurenSwiftArtwork

Without You

6th track from the album: Ａｄｈａｌ － Ｏｂｅｒｌｕｎａｒ

𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒂, 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆.
ISRC: QZKDK2044165

𝚠𝚠𝚠.𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚛.𝚌𝚘𝚖
𝙾𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚛 - 𝙲𝚘𝚙𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 © 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟶

Adhal

Talking with Johnny

A somewhat progressive metal inspired track, with G# tuned guitars. First time incorporating a guitar lead in awhile.

Anxiety Axe

SPIRITLAND

Video here! 

https://youtu.be/aAcjCcqFBJM

This song is a belated rebuttal to Ana Matronic (of the Scissor Sisters fame) comment that "nothing is sacred" in relation to their cover of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. At the time I considered this heresy! (it's actually a good cover that I like now) and so I was compelled to write a very serious song about the sacridity of the Floyd back in 2004.

The Sacred Song

Written: 2019-20
Duration: ca. 21'
Instrumentation: string quartet
Commissioned by The Indianapolis String Quartet
Premiere: The Indianapolis String Quartet, Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, New York, NY, March 5, 2020.
Publisher: Bill Holab Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/composers/robert-paterson/
For More Information: https://robertpaterson.com/string-quartet-no-3

PROGRAM NOTES
String Quartet No. 3 consists of five movements that explore “other voices,” either literally or figuratively. In a literal sense, this could mean speaking or singing in a way that is not considered normal or even out of one’s control. It could also mean speaking differently for a desired effect. Figuratively, “other voices” could mean a voice that is not one’s own. All five movements touch on these definitions in one way or another.

The first movement, Twist and Shout, uses musical patterns that sound like stuttering or someone who has a severe form of Tourette’s Syndrome. I use these sounds as a technical point of departure, incorporating jagged rhythms, erratic melodic patterns, and sudden volume shifts throughout the movement.

The second movement is entitled Poet Voice, and uses this style of reciting poems as a point of departure. In particular, this movement is based on a video of Louise Glück reading her poem “The Wild Iris,” which is included in a book of poems of the same name for which Glück won the Pulitzer Prize. Glück’s poem compares human suffering and finding a voice to the growth of a wild iris that makes a “passage from the other world” underground, despite the difficulty of breaking through. In the image of the wild iris, the explosion of color symbolizes new life. In this movement, I mimic Glück’s speech patterns and structure the movement around the sound of her voice and the content of her poem, essentially giving new life to her poetic reading. 

The third movement, Auction Chant, is inspired by North American auctioneering, which is a rapid-fire, rhythmic repetition of numbers and “filler words” spoken by auctioneers in the process of conducting an auction. This movement is also inspired by country fiddle music, which is a type of music often played in areas where auctioneering takes place.

In the fourth movement, Effects Pedal, I mimic sounds made by electronic effects pedals—and in particular, a vocal effects pedal, but without the use of actual electronic effects on the stringed instruments. I also use musical effects that sound somewhat like swallowing helium, which raises your voice when you inhale it, or sulfur hexafluoride, which lowers it.

The final movement is entitled Anthem. In this patriotic-sounding, yet slightly humorous movement, I weave together various sports themes and state songs from around the United States that are used to rile up fans at sports games.

String Quartet No. 3 was commissioned by The Indianapolis Quartet.

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

String Quartet No. 3 - V. Anthem

Duration: ca. 11'
Instrumentation: string orchestra and recording
World Premiere: American Modern Ensemble, Del Sol String Quartet, JACK Quartet and PubliQuartet, Delta David Gier, conductor, SubCulture, New York, NY, January 15, 2015

View Score: https://issuu.com/robertpaterson/docs/paterson_i_see_you__string_orch._ve

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B4565EIa_U&feature=emb_logo

Buy Sheet Music: http://www.billholabmusic.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=103_137&products_id=2435

Note: versions for string quartet and string quintet also available.

PROGRAM NOTE
I See You is inspired by a week I spent at my father's side in a hospital. Having never spent much time in hospitals, I was unaccustomed to hearing the myriad of sounds, particularly in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where my father lay incapacitated, in critical condition. It was incredibly sad: I could see him, but because he was so sedated, he was barely aware I was even in the room with him. Despite this, there was something strangely soothing and almost musical about the constant pattern of beeps and noises emanating from the machines. To pass the time, I would imagine an orchestra playing, with the litany of noises as accompaniment.

I See You consists of three connected sections. The first section entitled Tranquillo is calm and soothing, almost like a lullaby, with long melodic lines. The second, entitled Sturn und drang (“storm and stress”) is more rhythmic and stressful, incorporating a cacophony of ICU sounds. The final section, entitled Return, is more like the first, perhaps a bit darker, but with rays of optimism toward the end. Throughout the entire work, I incorporate sounds one might hear in an ICU, manipulated and mixed with recordings of heartbeats, breathing and the sounds of children playing. The piece ends with the overlapping patterns of my own heartbeat, my father’s heartbeat, and my son’s heartbeat, and even my son's heartbeat when he was in my wife's womb, creating an intimate, multi-generational, rhythmic tapestry.

I See You (String Orchestra and Recording)

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. 3 - V. Anthem

Robert Paterson Composer