New Music Unlisted 4 ( BabelScores ) A -J

Unisons

I primaevus
II inscriptio I
III inscriptio II
IV epilogus (to those who did not write history)

World premiere performance of PALIMPSESTUS. Recorded at Wentz Concert Hall, Naperville, IL. February 22, 2014.

Fonema Consort
Nina Dante, soprano
Kathryn Schulmeister, double bass
Ryan Packard, percussion

Program Notes
From Merriam-Webster's Dictionary:
pa·limp·sest 
noun \ˈpa-ləm(p)-ˌsest, pə-ˈlim(p)-\
: a very old document on which the original writing has been erased and replaced with new writing
: something that has changed over time and shows evidence of that change

PALIMPSESTUS (2013)

Performed by Ensemble Dal Niente at Northwestern University Pick Steiger Concert Hall (Evanston, IL) on April 27, 2014.

Ryan Muncy, sopranino saxophone
Chris Wild, cello
Constance Volk, bass flute
Katie Schoepflin, bass clarinet
Austin Wulliman, violin
Ammie Brod, viola

[IVsaxVIvlc]^[III(bflbclvln/a)] (2012) [Dal Niente: second recording]

Performed at Lutkin Hall (Evanston, IL). November 7, 2013.

ensemble recherche
Martin Fahlenbock, flute
Jaime González, oboe
Melise Mellinger, violin
Åsa Åkerberg, cello
Jean-Pierre Collot, piano

[V(fl.ob.vln/c)IIIkl] (2013) [recherche: second recording]

Primera de una serie de obras tituladas "Preguntas" que surgen a raíz de graduarme de la licenciatura en composición y encontrarme con muchísimas más interrogantes que respuestas. 

Estas "preguntas" son autorreferenciales y se están cuestionando a sí mismas a cada momento, producto de divagaciones, auto-críticas y el darme cuenta de muchas de mis limitaciones como compositor (y lo difícil de superarlas). 

La meta de las "preguntas" que presento es obtener, si hay suerte, al menos una respuesta que no sea un mero juicio de valor.

Wislawa Szymborska dice: "Que me disculpen las grandes preguntas por las pequeñas respuestas".
Yo digo: "Que me disculpen las grandes preguntas por las pequeñas preguntas".

Nota: Recomiendo (muy ampliamente) escuchar la pieza con audífonos o con buenas bocinas, ya que la pieza tiene pasajes de muy poco volumen en los cuales se puede perder el detalle en bocinas como las de la computadora o el celular. 


Interpretada por: Ensamble Vocal Bibani* y Sahé Orozco (flauta)
Imagen: Francisco Ledesma https://www.facebook.com/Contemporaryart.Ledesma
Grabada en SOMUS por Alonso Magaña.

*Integrantes:
Soprano 1: Silvia Camacho
Soprano 2: Miriam Bedoya
Tenor: Saúl López
Barítono: Luis Enrique Rodríquez
http://bibani.wix.com/bibani

Pregunta no.1: Sots'e (2015) para cuarteto vocal y flauta

Recorded at Northwestern University's Lutkin Hall. May 23, 2015.

William Lang, trombone

[VItbn]^4 (o quatre panells per a trombó sol) (2014)

commissioned and performed by CexSaxo duo

Detonation

JACK Quartet
Ari Streisfeld and Christopher Otto, violins
John Pickford Richards, viola
Kevin McFarland, cello

World premiere performance. Series 20/21. Auditorio 400 Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid). November 23rd, 2015. 

segon quartet de corda (2015) [JACK Quartet]

"This may happen to you if you always listen to stories " says the moral of the tale. This piece narrates in the manner of a children's story "El hombre que fue comido por los tigres" ("The man who was eaten by the tigers" or "Micuenta netsamb nej lüw" in its original language), tale belonging to the Huave tradition, a population from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico. 
Sung in Huave and narrated in English.

Performed by Dal Niente at the Northwestern University New Music Conference 2 (NUNC! 2) in November 2015.

Performers:
Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (Soprano)
Taimur Sullivan (Saxohpones)
Bonnie Whiting (Percussion)
Winston Choi (Piano)
MIchael Lewanski (Conductor)

El Hombre Que Fue Comido Por Los Tigres (English Version) - Dal Niente

"En mi caminar en el desierto
levantaré mi mirada hacia el horizonte
mi mano llega hasta el cielo
las maravillosas tortugas vienen hacia mí"

                             - poema Seri (de La Canción de la Tortuga)

The piece is a vague impression of what I heard in a dream. 
The dream came in layers: desert, lines, and song.
The dedication of the piece reads "to the waterless lands". 
However, it is also respectfully dedicated to the Seri people (Sonora, México), who live on the border between the driest desert and the sea.
--
Esta obra es una vaga impresión de lo que escuché en un sueño; éste llegó a mí en capas: desierto, líneas y canción. La dedicatoria dice "a las tierras sin agua". Sin embargo, también está respetuosamente dedicada al pueblo Seri (Sonora, México) que vive en la frontera entre el desierto más árido y el Mar de Cortés.

-----
*"In my walk through the desert
I will raise my gaze to the horizon
my hand touches the sky
the wonderful turtles come towards me"

                                        - Seri poem (from Turtle Song)*


Work for chamber orchestra + off-stage solo mezzo-soprano and English horn.
Performed February 4, 2016, by the Northwestern Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) at Galvin Hall, Northwestern University.
Conductor: Vincent Povaszáy 
Soprano: Harrah Friedlander
English horn: Katie Salvatore


*Translation mine.

en mi caminar en el desierto (2015) for chamber orchestra

Victor Coltea - Hyper Atom

"Vigilemos con los más sofisticados radares la integridad de las venas de la Tierra"*

("With the most sophisticated radars, let us look after the integrity of the veins of the Earth")

                                                                                     — Ariruma Kowii

Performers:
Kelly Quesada — Cello
Rodrigo Orviz — Bass Clarinet
John Ringor — Percussion

Piece based on the research of environmental  scientist Vivien Rivera for the Science Sonification Project at Northwestern University.

With regards to her work, Vivien writes:
"Cities rely on greenspace, or natural spaces, for myriad ecosystem services like storm water runoff management and species diversity and they are valuable parts of the built landscape. My research focuses on water in urban greenspaces […] I am using a sensor network to monitor water levels throughout the prairie in surface water channels and below the ground surface. This data is applied to hydrologic models to examine and predict water storage and to understand how [a specific] prairie responds to precipitation and runoff from the surrounding urban environment, which is useful for urban planning and flood mitigation."

This piece is dedicated to Vivien and everyone who strives to relate to the environment in a more intelligent and wise manner.


Piece recorded by Grayson Elliott Taylor.

* Fragment of nameless poem that I found in the following link http://poesiaindigena.blogspot.com/

Vigilemos las venas de la Tierra (2017) - for bass clarinet, cello, percussion, and electronics

"La sombra de la sombra de un objeto aún no encontrado" (The shadow of the shadow of an object not yet found) for prepared string quartet + electronics

There is—somewhere—an object yet to be found by me. I do not know what it is or how it looks (sounds) like but I know I will recognize it on the moment of our encounter. Such object would allow me to experiment with my music free from a heavy historical burden of aesthetic imposition and arbitrary hierarchization. I presume that a long time will go by before I find this object, if I ever do. In the meantime, I will try to find its shadow—or, if not, the shadow of its shadow. 
--
He de encontrar, en algún lugar, un objeto. Desconozco cómo se ve (o se escucha) tal objeto pero sé que lo reconoceré al momento en que lo encuentre. Tal objeto me permitirá experimentar con mi música, libre de la pesada carga histórica de imposición estética y jerarquización arbitraria con la que cargo (cargamos). Anticipo que el encontrar tal objeto me tomará mucho tiempo—si es que algún día lo logro hacerlo. Mientras tanto, intentaré encontrar su sombra. O, por lo menos, la sombra de su sombra.

Performed by Spektral Quartet at Galvin Hall (Northwestern University) in February, 2017.

Photo by Ana María Bermúdez (https://www.anamariabermudez.com/).

La sombra de la sombra de un objeto aún no encontrado (2017, live recording)— Spektral Quartet

 for prepared/tuned guitar and live electronics


RinmoDeZer-Freq

Blast - performed by Silke Strahl and Jessica Porter

Victor Coltea - Blast - for saxophones and drums

Pregunta no.2: Cóndor (Question no.2: Cóndor)

Performed by Jonathan Hannau
http://www.jonathanhannau.com/

Memory is what things are made of. Or, perhaps I should say, it is through memory that we construct our conception of the world, History (with capital “H”,) and our sense of identity. It is through memory that “things” acquire meaning(s) and that we are able to place them within an imaginary continuum of time that we call “the past.” This past (what has passed and is, therefore, irreversibly lost) is how we understand our present and what we project into the future. Thus, memory is not so much about “the past” but about the manner in which we construct it in order to build our worldview in the present moment and to make decisions for what is to come. This makes memory inevitably political. Collective memory, more so. 

I am interested in how one “thing” (an object, a word, a concept, even a person) can be interpreted by means of two or more contrasting collective memories. The word “cóndor” has that effect on my set of personal/collective memories.

Cóndor: iconic bird of the Andes, that which flies higher than all; the one that knows no boundaries, no borders; a symbol of transcendence, spirituality, and wisdom for several cultures in South America. This word, however, makes a very different set of collective memory arise in my mind. “Operación Cóndor” (ca. 1968-75) was a campaign of political interventionism, repression, and state terror carried out by right-wing dictatorships with the support of the U.S. governments (from Johnson to Reagan.) During this time, in almost every South American country, people were disappeared, tortured, incarcerated, and murdered because of their political beliefs. The estimated outcome is more than 60,000 deaths and 400,000 political prisoners. 

This piece was written with my mind sitting in the middle of the clash between two contrasting collective memories aroused by the word “cóndor.”

Commissioned by and dedicated to pianist, composer, and friend Jonathan Hannau. 

Illustration: "Pájaro" by Federico Jordán. http://www.fjordan.com/

Recorded by Aaron Gottl.

Pregunta No.2: Cóndor Amaya (2017) — for piano + e-bows

Work co-composed by Weston Olencki and Luis Fernando Amaya.
Image: Ana María Bermúdez (https://www.anamariabermudez.com/).

This piece belongs to a series of works to be experienced in a similar way in which one acquaints oneself with a found object or a new space. It is always a personal and particular approach: two people never scrutinize an object or inhabit a space in the exact same way. This particular space/object is constantly morphing; it is/takes place in an imaginary room where sound reverbs in transforming surfaces and its dimensions change over time. In Objeto/Espacio no.3, Weston and I create a sound world that can be inhabited freely without abandoning its limits. However, there is always the possibility of encountering a hole on a wall.
--
Obra co-compuesta por Weston Olencki y Luis Fernando Amaya

Objeto/Espacio no.3 pertenece a una serie de piezas que buscan poder ser experimentadas de la misma manera en que uno explora un objeto encontrado o un espacio nuevo. Esta exploración es siempre profundamente personal: no hay dos personas que la realicen de la misma manera. Este objeto/espacio en particular está en constante transformación; se desarrolla en un cuarto imaginario cuyas dimensiones y superficies no se mantienen iguales lo que genera que el sonido reverbere de distintas maneras a lo largo de la obra. En Objeto/Espacio no.3, Weston y yo creamos un mundo sonoro que puede ser habitado libremente sin abandonar sus límites. Sin embargo, siempre cabrá la posibilidad de encontrarse con un agujero en la pared.

--
Premiered and recorded at McClintock Hall, Northwestern University.
Spring 2018

Mixed by Weston Olencki.
Recorded by Sean Keenan.
Image: Ana María Bermúdez (https://www.anamariabermudez.com/).

Objeto/Espacio no.3 (Olencki/Amaya) — for trombone + electronics

Performed by Carlos Cordeiro on E flat clarinet and Marina Kifferstein on violin (TAK Ensemble). Studio Z (St. Paul, MN), February 24, 2019.

[VIsi-klIXvlc] (2012) [Cordeiro/Kifferstein]

Jeff Siegfried, alto saxophone

World premiere performance. McIntosh Theater. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. March 26th, 2019.

Program Note

In 1923, György Lukács published History and Class Consciousness, a book in which he introduced an influential analysis of the Marxist notion of “reification.” For Lukács, reification (German: Verdinglichung; “making into a thing”) is a process that takes place in modern capitalist societies, whereby living, dynamic properties of human interaction become static, alienated objects. Lukács argues that the commodification of social relations under capitalism is such a ubiquitous phenomenon that one can end up wrongly assuming that the capitalist organization of society is an eternal condition of existence. Reification, as a number of leftist thinkers have argued, leads to a significant issue: imagination, trapped in such a reductionistic human experience, is largely unable to project alternative forms of existence
outside of the prevailing political economy.

Since the publication of History and Class Consciousness, critical thinkers have argued that art can operate as a means to counteract reification and provide an aperture for manifold phenomenological possibilities. Along this line, the philosopher Martin Heidegger writes that art is capable of “un-concealing” new “worlds.” For Heidegger, this type of disclosure can lead to the establishment of an ontology through which humans understand themselves in relation to their world. According to the philosopher, this is representative of “truth” or “aletheia.”

The intersection between Lukács’ notion of reification and Heidegger’s “aletheia” is the starting point for Λήθη - επιβεβαίωση - ἀλήθεια [Homage to C.P.]. This music hopes to foster unknown modes of aural consciousness, not only through the creation of rare sonic structures and materials, but also by engaging the performer in a unique performance practice derived from the particularities of unconventional notational procedures. It is an exercise in “counter-reification.”

Three sources from different musical and literary traditions are employed:

1. An original transcription of Charlie Parker’s solo from the 1953 studio recording of Confirmation 
2. The “Kyrie” from Johannes Ockeghem’s Missa prolationum
3. Aeneas’ travel to the Underworld as described by Virgil in The Aeneid       

Parker’s transcription of the Confirmation solo operates as the central artifact of the piece. It is treated as an “aesthetic truth” that has lost much of its potency due to the commodification that bebop—a groundbreaking genre originally created by working-class Black musicians—has endured over the past decades. Pitch-set transformations and original contextualizations of melodic trajectories embedded in the solo are the most prominent compositional procedures that stem from the transcription. In this context, Parker’s “confirmation” (επιβεβαίωση) represents the foundation upon which new aesthetic truths may be built. Nihil novi.

Ockeghem’s Missa prolationum and Virgil’s The Aeneid are secondary sources of inspiration. They both suggest antiquity and the relentless pursuit of truth that humans have sought through music, mathematics, and poetry. In particular, the mensural relationships from the Kyrie of Missa prolationum provide an excellent source of numerical data for the development of virtually endless temporal proportions. Furthermore, the use of Virgil’s description of the Underworld in The Aeneid emphasizes the etymological connection between the Heideggerian notion of “aletheia” and Lethe, one of the five rivers of the Underworld. As told by Anchises, Aeneas’ father, the dead who are meant to return to earthly life must drink the water of the Lethe in order to forget their past lives.    

One would humbly hope that this piece leads to the attainment of a modicum of freedom, perhaps so that the collective disorientation we endure vanishes and is replaced by the disclosure of new, fairer worlds.

Λήθη – επιβεβαίωση – ἀλήθεια [Homage to C.P.] (2017-18)

Block Chain - Victor Coltea

Jürg Henneberger - Conductor
Ensemble Phoenix Basel 
Live-Recording: 11 January 2020, Gare du Nord, Basel

Copyright SRF 2020

New Music Unlisted 4 ( BabelScores ) A -J

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