orchestral

As Co-director of the Nebula Ensemble's first season, here is one piece from our upcoming concert series, my new work, The Exquisite Corpse Shall Drink the New Wine.

The Exquisite Corpse Shall Drink the New Wine by the Nebula Ensemble

Austin Haynes Music Reel

Sonata a 4 Mains-Rustique/Poulenc

Matsuo Bashō, a 17th century Japanese poet, became famous for his development of the haiku. Before Bashō, haikus stood by themselves, single three-line poems. For the first time in centuries of haiku writing, Bashō created techniques to link haikus together to construct a larger poem. His goal was to have poems that contained formal unity, yet still presented variety from haiku to haiku. Bashō's most renowned technique is called "leap linkage," where the first poem begins describing a certain image, but in the following poem, he uses subtle wordplay to twist that image, changing the entire meaning. (This idea can be seen inside a single haiku of Bashō's: "When holding it/ Hold it like an infant/ Baby cherry tree.") Bashō's haiku techniques can be reimagined in the context of music, creating new ways of transforming and developing material over time. "breaking the silence," for female voice, violoncello, and prepared piano, is a piece composed in the style of Bashō's haiku poetry; think of it as several individual haikus, containing variety and change from one haiku to the next, but containing unifying techniques that bind the haikus together, creating oneness. 

Text and translation: 
"Furu ike ya
kawazu tobikomu
mizu no oto."

"Breaking the silence of an ancient pond,
A frog jumped into water—
A deep resonance."

breaking the silence of an ancient pond

Imagine a sunset in the mountains: the sun dips behind the crests of the mountaintops casting rays upon a lake directly in front of the mountains; notice the intricate transformation of colors reflected on the water. As the sun sets, radiant red colors smoothly transform, mixing with the shadows created by the mountain peaks, until one is left in darkness. At the moment of twilight, the landscape is directly in the middle of the transformation, existing in two worlds, both light and darkness. One is able to reflect on an array of observations—balance (and unbalance), blended areas of color and shadow which create a sense of space and depth, and a special transformative duality. In this duality, one can see the current blended color spectrum, but can simultaneously recognize the timeline of the blending of the colors and the transformation from light to darkness.

These aspects contribute to how I interpret the creation of visual artist Amy Metier’s work "A Delicate Balance" that subsequently inspired my new work "and may we share this pseudo-space: our delicate ecstasy." In "and may we share this pseudo-space," I explore how the blending of different sounds can contribute to creating tension and balance, similar to "A Delicate Balance." Through the fusing of sounds, one is able to perceive transformative dualities of sound produced by the performers—and then with the audience. 

and may we share this pseudo-space: our delicate ecstasy

Live performance of the US Premiere of Chen Yi's viola concerto, Xian Shi, with Michael Hall, viola and the Chicago Composers Orchestra. Matthew Kasper, conductor.  Xian Shi is the first viola concerto written by a Chinese composer. 

Chen Yi –  "Xian Shi" Concerto for viola and orchestra. American Premiere

From the new album of Mason Bates' symphonic music with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Released Dec 2015, it features numerous pieces that have never been released before. 
Purchase the album on iTunes (http://apple.co/1NYzF0W), Amazon (http://amzn.to/1NJuHn1), Google Play (http://bit.ly/1RddG6N) or the BMOP site (http://bit.ly/1M68IRF). 

Sea-Blue Circuitry - BMOP (excerpt)

A work in collaboration with film maker Daniel Sharkey. The music is accompanied by live film: https://youtu.be/GlsnNjwDW5Q

Think back to famous titles such as Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) or Tristan und Isolde. These programmatic titles depict what will happen extramusically within the pieces. Similarly, o u c n m 3 w E 8 (performing operations on familiar shapes) is a programmatic title, but in a less story-like way than the aforementioned examples. In the first operation, the visual shape of the letter “o” becomes “u” by removing the top arch from the letter “o.” Continuing, one can witness the visual transformations and rotations from letter to letter (or number). The music develops and progresses in a similar fashion; there are moments where severe dissonances create rapid beating acoustically, and then the rhythm of the beating becomes realized in another voice. In this way, the listener is taken on an acoustic journey—musical shapes unfold and mutate and what one thinks is, for example, an “m” slowly transforms into a “3.”  At the end of the piece, one can’t help but have expectations for the following operation. What could the “8” transform into next?

cover art: "Horse, Pipe, and Red Flower" - Joan Miró

o u c n m 3 w E 8 (performing operations on familiar shapes)

Here is my prelude and fugue in A Major - the final project for my composition seminar at Furman University! The prelude is inspired by the minimalism of Steve Reich, and the fugue is by the last movement fugue of Samuel Barber's Piano Sonata. 

If you are interested in hiring me to write music for your project, contact me at jjayberthumecomposer@gmail.com

If you are interested in online music composition lessons, contact me at jjayberthume@gmail.com

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/jjberthume

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Sheet music: https://jjayberthume.musicaneo.com/

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Prelude And Fugue In A Major

Desh'mieve Malanai

Dark Instincts

gates beginnings time endings pt 2

A Sense Of Wonder

for Orchestra (in 4 scenes)

I. We Shall Fight (0:00-5:52)
II. Burgeon of Strength (5:53-9:17)
III. Noble Morn (9:18-14:20)
IV. The March (14:05-19:06)

CHURCHILL'S WAR for Orchestra is the next in my series of works in the realm of music and speech, exploring the inward affect of their shared physical traits (pitch, rhythm, and amplitude). The piece highlights Churchill's stirring vocal performance. Occasionally, orchestral sonorities are combined with processed recordings of Churchill's speech, weaving together sonic textures and illuminations, viscerally re- contextualizing Churchill's oration while revealing connections between melody and text.

DREW SCHNURR (2013)

Churchill's War

Kangyi has performed on various stages in Singapore, Malaysia and the United States. As a composer, his music are often programmatic and based on personal life and experiences. He also aims to raise public awareness on important historical events. 

Music Scores: http://kangyimusic.storenvy.com
Music Licence: http://www.pond5.com/artist/protestahkang971
Music Services: http://www.kangyizhang.com/freelance.html
SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/kangyi-zhang
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kangyiflute

Desh'mieve Malanai

Wes Devore

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