I. East Ninth Street - Joan Mitchell
II. All Green - Mary Abbott
III. Untitled 1942 - Lee Krasner

Three Pieces After Abstract Expressionists (2021) is a musical response to three abstract expressionist paintings by Joan Mitchell, Mary Abbott, and Lee Krasner (respectively) in three movements.  Orchestrated for a mixed chamber ensemble, this piece aims to use synesthetic pitch and textural content derived from the color spectra used in the paintings. While other periods in the development of visual art use representational content or subjects, abstract expressionism relies solely on gesture and color, or even lack thereof. The intrinsic linear nature of music necessitates an element of dimensionality that abstraction lacks, so the shifts and progression of texture in this piece follow the way one’s eye focuses on different areas and details of a painting as if taking the time to study them in a museum.

Three Pieces After Abstract Expressionists

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