catherine lamb -- descensus trio (2020). i recorded each part by myself over the course of the pandemic.

catherine lamb -- decensus trio

Rail Dynamics is a large-scale work for string trio and fixed media inspired by a defunct rail line in northern New Mexico's high desert. Structured as ten landscape-style movements, Rail Dynamics explores the soundscapes of the northern New Mexican landscape while navigating the cultural and environmental impact of the rail in the Galisteo Basin, ultimately meditating on the slow deterioration of the rail line and the surrounding landscape's gradual reclamation of its previously inhabited spaces.

Intertwined among these explorations are images surrounding a tragic car accident I was in as a child that involved a collision with a train. Being by the rail in the deep quiet that characterizes so much of northern New Mexico's landscapes, however, helped me to re-contextualize my experience and facilitated my recovery; the slow dissolution of the rail into the high desert soil seemed to mirror the gradual vanishing of the scars on my face, and in a strange way I found a deep kinship with the basin, what remained of the rail, and their deeply nuanced relationship.

This piece is dedicated to my father, who, for weeks following the accident, would fall asleep at the foot of my hospital bed without mattress or pillow so I would not be there by myself.

(Rail Dynamics takes its name from a ground-breaking set of mid-century field recordings of locomotives in New York, championed today by the Smithsonian Folkways. The original Rail Dynamics can be found here: folkways.si.edu/rail-dynamics/sou…album/smithsonian as well as on Spotify and YouTube).

This work was premiered at The TANK Center for the Sonic Arts on September 22, 2024 by Jordan Grantonic (violin), Emma Reynolds (viola), and Peyton Magalhaes (cello). The TANK is well known for its uniquely intense acoustic resonance, in which sounds can last up to 50 seconds before fading away. More information about the TANK can be found here: tanksounds.org/

III. Hollow

X. Shivers

VIII. Imprint

VI. Sleeping Figure

Flute - Freddy Branson
Viola - Kenneth Fujii
Harp - Sachi Ikuma

Currents

Produced by the Tête à Tête Opera Company and the Royal College of Music

The Drifterman, A Horror Opera

For Hardanger string quartet - performed by Bergamot Quartet:

Ledah Finck, Hardanger fiddle
Sarah Thomas, Hardanger fiddle
Martine Thomas, Hardanger viola
Irène Han, Hardanger Cello

A Plague, A Whisper, A Loveliness - for Bergamot Quartet

Mariel Roberts-Musa, Cello

Emmanuel Berrido, Audio Engineer

Orpheus Puts Down Harp, for solo cello — Will Martin

INTERNATIONAL YOUNG COMPOSERS & CONDUCTORS ACADEMY IN TICINO
World premieres by the composers and conductors selected for the 9th edition of the IYCA in Ticino

ENSEMBLE MODERN
	•	Eva Böcker — Cello
	•	Paul Cannon — Double Bass
	•	Christian Hommel — Oboe
	•	Megumi Kasakawa — Viola
	•	Thomas Adrian Mittler — Horn
	•	Giorgos Panagiotidis — Violin
	•	Johannes Schwarz — Bassoon
	•	Dietmar Wiesner — Flute

TUTORS
	•	Oscar Bianchi (Italy / Switzerland)
	•	Titus Engel (Switzerland)
	•	Andile Khumalo (South Africa)
	•	Francesca Verunelli (Italy)

CONDUCTORS
	•	Christian Schüller (1990/1991 — Germany)
	•	Andreas Bäuml (1991 — Germany)
	•	Onna Stäheli (1997 — Switzerland)
	•	Hon Ning Cheung (1997 — Hong Kong)
	•	Elias Jurgschat (1995 — Germany)
	•	Daniel Satanovski (2002/2003 — Germany)
	•	Kirill Zvegintsov (1983 — Ukraine)
	•	Sebastiano de Salvo (1997 — Italy)
	•	Mateusz Gwizdała (1993 — Australia / Poland)

Emma Tucker (2001 — USA) — Embrittlement

Özkan Umutcan Bapbacı (1996 — Turkey / Australia) — but this kind of freedom is a sad affair under the stars

A California native, Emma Tucker (b. 2001) is a composer and oboist. “Like an impressive machine”, her music combines spectral harmony with a synesthetic relationship between color and sound. Her musical influences range from Renaissance music and French impressionism to 21st century microtonal landscapes and just intonation. Her music is also aesthetically inspired by visual art and natural science, and is formally constructed primarily by creating shifts in harmony and timbre. Emma has worked with esteemed groups such as Ensemble Modern, Bergamot Quartet, Ensemble Linea, International Contemporary Ensemble, Brightwork NewMusic, and LIGAMENT.

Emma is currently pursuing a DMA in music composition at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in the studio of Felipe Lara, from which she has also earned her MM in the studios of Oscar Bettison and Eric Wubbels.  Emma also holds Bachelor’s degrees in music composition and oboe performance from Chapman University where she studied with Jeffrey Holmes, Sean Heim, Vera Ivanova, and Ted Sugata. Her music is registered with ASCAP, and her works are self-published.
Learn more at emmatuckermusic.com

A Plague, A Whisper, A Loveliness - for Bergamot Quartet

Emma Tucker

Related tracks