Transmutation was first performed by PinkNoise Ensemble in December 2022, with Roberta Michel on flute, Ashlée Miller on clarinet, and Aaron Wolff on cello.

I wrote Transmutation for my Advanced Composition course at Columbia University. I came to the course as an electronic musician with one year of music theory under my belt. For much of the semester, I created graphic scores without specific notes, and wrote the music on my Korg Minilogue synthesizer. For the first rehearsal, I played audio excerpts from my synthesizer for the musicians and presented them with a graphic score that included no specific notes. I knew that the score was representative of sound, but it took a long time before the connection between score and sound became direct, and I developed a hybrid notation system throughout the semester. This composition has been more than challenging, but ultimately it exists among the most rewarding experiences of my life. I am proud to present you with my first composition for ensemble: Transmutation.

PERFORMANCE NOTES
Transmutation's score (available upon request) is a work of science fiction. Think of it as an artefact from one future of many, an alien diagram for a technology that does not yet exist on earth. As the player, it is up to you to interpret how this fictional technology sounds. Performing Transmutation is an exercise in the spontaneous experience of collective improvisation and imagination. Transmutation refers to the alchemical process of changing one thing into another.

This score presents alternative temporalities, in that the timeline of the piece is not linear and will sound different every time it is played. This score is an experiment in form; in order to convey my ideas, I looked to formal structures from other fields such as electrical engineering and computer science. Transmutation is an imaginary circuit, a fantastical computer architecture diagram and neural network full of invented symbols. Look for electrical symbols such as resistors, signal flow pathways, inductors, and power sources, operational amplifiers, and much more. In Transmutation, sound and electricity are analogous. Along with electrically-inspired structures, this score includes rainforest sounds and magical symbols.

For Sinclair Brazier.

© Music Copyright by Eliana Shapere, 2022 Copyrighted for all countries. All rights reserved. First printed on November 25th, 2022.

Transmutation

⍟voice, modular, guitar, viola, diy hardware, computer, and sometimes DJ⍟

Transmutation

SEVERIN