Solo set. Ithaca, NY (04/26/14)



Annie Lewandowski, accordion,
Andrew Lucia, visuals,
Cornell Symphony Orchestra, Chris Kim, Director
Amit Gilutz, Niccolo Athens, Conductors

An (pronounced as ahn) is a Turkish word for moment. The piece is an homage to Pauline Oliveros, and to her unique concept, deep listening. Deep listening is a collection of mental exercises designed to increase the awareness of the moment, bringing the performer to a level of aural consciousness where listening itself becomes the main tool of music making. In her music, she achieves such a state through improvisation, usually in a completely free manner without any form of written or verbal instructions, only to be guided by listening to the moment. An does have written instructions, however, the piece also explores the deep listening concept through a score encouraging performers to improvise.

An is based on the spectral analysis of a bowed cymbal sound, which I have re-orchestrated for the instruments of a symphony orchestra. The result is a rich, composite sound resonating the hall from the stage as well as from the balconies. An was composed for three separate orchestras with almost identical instrumentation and their own conductor, where the principle was located on the stage with the auxiliaries on the left and right balconies. A 6.2 surround sound system was used to play the electronics part with the speakers distributed in the hall around the orchestras. Combined with Lucia's visuals, the result was an intense ambisonic experience.


Keeper's Dream portrays the fantasies of an inn-keeper who tends to doze off at work. The surreal essence of his dreams shapes the piece through contrasting textures that abruptly cut each other off. Such a drama is also in the nature of "Blister," my homemade analog synthesizer responsible for the soundscape. The synthesizer along with my SuperCollider "Sampler" explores the musical boundaries of feedback from momentary bombardment of sound within itself to arbitrary recalls of seconds. The piece is a collage of short improvisations I've made using this setup and a call-bell. 

See more about "Blister" and "Sampler" here: http://taylancihan.com/lab.html

Keeper's Dream

"Magic Watermelon" is from a twenty hour long recording marathon that took place in Barnes Hall (Ithaca, NY) between January 2nd and 4th. The piece is freely improvised and recorded in one take.

http://taylancihan.com


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