Scrapey, raspy, close-mic fun with a bunch of stuff in my apartment for a sound design class.

for Jackson Pollock

Fun with a Moog and Every Owen Wilson Wow In Chronological Order (thanks YouTube!)

<<<woOOOow>>>

"Lucy's Lattes", from Ambient Dreams for Sleep-Deprived Teens

A Rose is a Rose is a Ruse - A Bachelor's Tale (2023) for Speaking Ensemble

Commissioned by Ensemble Offspring for the 2022 Noisy Women Commission. Premiered and recorded live at the Sydney Opera House, 26th August 2023. 

II: March - Meet the Bachelor
III: Parade - Dance of the Sugarfree Fairies
IV: Battle - We're Not Here to Make Friends
V: Romance - 27 Producer-Approved Ways to Say "I Love You"

(Please note: "Interlude - Sweethearts and Villains" was cut from this performance due to time constraints)

Link to YouTube recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1V8f6PsEAM

A Rose is a Rose is a Ruse - A Bachelor's Tale (mvts II-V)

For double wind orchestra. Commissioned by the Queensland Conservatorium as a part of the 2011 Silver Harris & Jeff Peck Composition Prize. Premiered and recorded on 22nd March 2013 by the Queensland Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Peter Luff.

This recording has been edited for the February 2015 Making Waves playlist. 

Shiver

Paresthesia was composed for the Blackwood Quartet. The piece was inspired by my own experience of migraines, where often the first signs of trouble are unusual sensations in my fingers and face. I was interested in exploring how the spectrum of these sensations - tingling, prickling, itching, throbbing, goosebumps and numbness - could be represented aurally. In other words, what could these sensations sound like? Paresthesia uses the unique sound of the clarinet quartet to evoke these sensations sonically, as well as to create a work out of an uncomfortable, yet fascinating physical experience.
Premiered and recorded by Tom D'Ath, Mahalia Stamford, Tim Barker and Naomi Lennox, at Melba Hall, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Tuesday 6th October 2015. 

Paresthesia

For Flute, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Cello and 2 reel-to-reel tape recorders. Performed and recorded by Ensemble Fabrique on 23rd September 2011 at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane, Australia. 

Quasi is a graphically scored guided improvisation for small ensemble, produced in collaboration with Brisbane-based group, Ensemble Fabrique. The score is essentially a set of basic instructions - for example, beginning at concert D4, gradually glissando up the range of the instrument, starting with long tones that gradually get shorter. As the performers navigate through the score, their performance is recorded in real time by the tape recorders, which then play it back progressively slower and slower. The result is a piece that keeps expanding until it collapses under its own weight.

Quasi

Miniature for Trumpet Mouthpiece & Harmon Mute. Composed in collaboration with Chloe Abbott as part of the Composing for Trumpet workshop at the 2018 Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, led by Rebecca Saunders, Milica Djordjevic and Marco Blaauw. Performed by Chloe Abbott. Recorded live at Lichtenbergschule, Darmstadt, Germany, 26th July 2018.

Gremlin (2018 sketch)

Want Not (2018) for Piccolo, Percussion, Piano/Toy Piano and Cello with found objects. Commissioned by Rubiks Collective for the 2017 Pythia Prize. Recorded by Rubiks Collective, Underground Media & Tilman Robinson, September 2018. 

Influenced by environmentalism, minimalism, extreme frugality, and the aesthetics of damage, 'Want Not' explores the sonic potential of discarded objects, breathing new life into everyday items that would otherwise become landfill. In the scherzo-like opening, a frying pan, mint packets and leftover construction tiles intermingle with percussive Piano sounds. Aeolian tones on the Piccolo complement the mercurial sounds of the Cello prepared with bulldog clips. Music boxes that had been left to gather dust are showcased alongside a Toy Piano and quarter-tone Kalimba. For the final section, empty bottles supplant the Piccolo, augmenting the ethereal sounds of bowed kitchen bowls and piano strings prepared with single-use plastic forks. Overall, the piece is a journey through an eclectic sound world, whimsical and tender at times, solemn and even sinister at others. 

While obviously critical of modern throwaway culture, 'Want Not' also presents a way to grant would-be litter a new life - as a musical instrument. In doing so, the piece invites the listener to consider the creative possibilities of the objects around them, even if the object appears to have outlived its intended purpose.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26w5NMoYQlU&feature=youtu.be

Rubiks: https://rubikscollective.com/

Want Not

For two pianos and percussion. Premiered and recorded at the 2012 New Music Workshop at the Yale Summer Music School/Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Performed by Michael Smith, Julia Sheriff, Cristobal Gajardo and Adam Rosenblatt. Conducted by Lisa Moore. 

Gremlin (2019)for brass mouthpiece and harmon mute. Composed for and performed by Tristram Williams. Premiered July 30 2019, Ian Potter Southbank Centre, Melbourne, Australia.

Gremlin is an expansion of a miniature composed at the 2018 Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. Scored for brass mouthpiece and harmon mute only, the piece focuses on the physicality of brass playing technique, specifically breath, throat, tongue, and hand movements. When isolated and amplified, the sounds created by these techniques take on a dark, mischievous quality, hissing and growling like a small, furry creature that shouldn’t be fed after midnight.

Gremlin (2019) - Tristram Williams

Fixed audio component of "Aura" (2021), for Sinfonietta and Fixed Audio. Created

Aura (electronics)

Described as ‘haunting’, ‘enigmatic’, and ‘inspired’, the music of Australian-born, US-based composer Samantha Wolf inhabits the space between the classical, contemporary, acoustic and electroacoustic worlds, while being grounded in the notated tradition. Her practice encompasses solo, chamber, choral, band and orchestral works, interdisciplinary collaborations, theatrical sound design, and electroacoustic works that incorporate noise, speech, and found sounds. 

Samantha has worked with many of Australia’s leading new music ensembles, including the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Elision, Ensemble Offspring, The Song Company, the Horsley Williams Duo, Rubiks Collective, and Kupka’s Piano. Her music has been performed around Australia and internationally, including at the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music (Germany), soundSCAPE Festival (Italy), Impuls Academy (Austria),  Norfolk Chamber Music Festival (USA), and locally at the Brisbane New Music Festival, Metropolis New Music Festival, the ANAM Set, Tilde New Music Festival, and the 2high Festival. Her music has been broadcast on ABC Classic FM, 3MBS, PBS and 4MBS, and featured by Making Waves, Partial Durations, Collective Soundwaves, and ABC’s New Waves podcast. An avid writer, Samantha’s articles have been published by Resonate, CutCommon and Rehearsal Magazine. Samantha holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, the University of Melbourne, and the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. Samantha is represented by the Australian Music Centre.

Samantha Wolf

Popular tracks