THRUSH begins with my reinterpretation of the same audio that Messiaen used for his transcriptions of the North American Songbirds, blackbird and wood thrush. These audio samples were digitized and analysed using PRAAT and C-Speech, from which I made new transcriptions that were more accurate representations of the physical acoustical signal. Of course, a temporal framework had to be established for these transcriptions, for which I decided to treat in a non-metrical fashion, since birds presumably do not think in terms of man-made meters and units. Then paired with the acoustical signal, I did research on the physical mechanism by which the birds produced sounds. These involved analyses of airflow, source, resonance and articulation for both blackbird and wood thrush. It was found that some bird species produce multiphonic & biphonic signals using paired bronchi, while others used a single bronchus. When using paired bronchi to produce two independent frequency contours, the dynamical interpretation would result in two simultaneous limit cycles; meanwhile, two independent frequency contours produced by a single bronchus would result in the occurrence of nonlinear phenomena, here interpreted as a torus.

#91. THRUSH performed by Moritz Ernst on 2020 - 11 - 06

Michael Edgerton is an active composer with performances around the world. His compositions have received international prizes and recognition including the important German award, the Kompositionspreis der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart for his composition the Tempo Mental Rap, a series of six variations for guitar based upon a Steve Vai transcription of a Frank Zappa rap. Michael’s compositions utilize a broad range of musical influences such as European avant-garde, American experimentalism, progressive rock and world music. Since the mid-90s Michael’s compositions have been informed by scientific models and metaphors. Initially stemming from his studies with voice science and dynamical systems, he’s built a body of work that explores the integration of nonlinear concepts applied to sound production and compositional constraints. While the methods and systems he develops are often influenced by science, it is his intuition – his ear that gives birth to the music.

Michael is currently working as Professor of Artistic Research at Lund University/the Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden.

Ionut Mirel Udrea (Member Of APRA/AMCOS) is a music composer, piano player and music producer based in Sydney - Australia. 
Ionut Mirel Udrea composes emotive piano-based instrumental music.

Moritz Ernst was born 1986 in Ostwestfalen, Germany and already began playing the piano at the age of five, taking lessons in Detmold. After graduating from high school at the early age of 16, he continued his piano studies, in 2002 at the Detmolder Musikhochschule, where he also studied musicology as well as being awarded several prizes during that time. 2003 he also became a private pupil of the well known professor for piano, Peter Feuchtwanger.  Shortly thereafter his concert activities were launched with regular performances in Europe and abroad. (For example in Germany- Musikhalle Hamburg; Austria – Mozarteum Salzburg; England – Purcell Room London, Switzerland and Italy.) Some years later Moritz Ernst further studied piano with Prof Jean-Jacques Dünki and harpsichord with Prof Jörg-Andreas Bötticher at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland, whereupon his career also as harpsichordist began. During these years of study he also attended master classes and workshops held by Günter Reinhold, Paul Badura-Skoda, Ferderick Rzewski and the Auryn Quartet. 
Moritz Ernst is presently concertising as pianist, harpsichordist and chamber musician playing a wide repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary music: in Germany (Piano Festival Feuchtwangen, Lake Constance Festival, Beethoven Festival Bonn), in England, France, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Romania, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Russia. (St. Petersburg Sound Ways Festival) He has also held master classes at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, Germany and The Royal Music Academy in Malmö, Sweden.
Music of the 20th and 21st century is especially dear to his heart. Ernst has premiered several works as well as working closely with composers such as Eötvös, Pelzel, Winkler, Pflüger, Wohlhauser, Olofsson, Maros and Pröve, some of whom dedicated works to him. In addition he advocates the forgotten and less played composers; for example Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Sonata op. 106, Feruccio Busonni‘s Fantasia Contrappuntistica, the music of Samuel Scheidt, as well as music for the 16th tone piano. (micro tonality)   
The international press highly acclaimed Moritz Ernst for his superb recording of music by Sir Malchom Arnold. “The Classical Music Magazine” granted him the highest rating and “The Gramophone” praised his sparkling and stimulating rendition of this recording. In addition he has performed for international radio stations such as DRS2 (Zurich), Radio Luxembourg, SR (radio of the Saarland), DeutschlandRadio Kultur, Deutschlandfunk and BBC London.
Extensive plans for future recording projects include: the harpsichord works of Kent Olofsson, the complete piano works of Viktor Ullmann, the sonatas by Norbert von Hannenheim in connection with Deutschlandradio (German radio) and the CD label EDA Records on two CDs and works by Bernfried Pröve (on 7 CDs). In 2014 the piano concerto by Victor Ullmann, in combination with Beethoven’s third piano concerto will also be recorded. 
In June 2013 Moritz Ernst gave his debut performance with the Symphony Orchestra of Bern (Switzerland) under the baton Mario Venzago playing the 2nd piano concerto by Edward Stämpflis. In 2014 his Canadian debut as pianist and harpsichordist will also take place in Montreal. 
The curiosity of Moritz Ernst to discover new facets of music and music history has led him to cooperate with musicians such as singer Eva Csapo, the violinists Egidius Streiff and Hans Heinz Schneeberger or the clarinetist Urs Brügger. His knowledge as musicologist has led to a cooperation with the Schott Verlag.

#91. THRUSH performed by Moritz Ernst on 2020 - 11 - 06

Michael Edward Edgerton, composition 2001-2018