real-time/non
real-time |
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| Stück / piece | Komponist / composer |
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Pentes (1974) 12’51”
The
title Pentes (both French and Latin, meaning slopes, inclines,
ascents) was suggested by the outlines of the broad stretches of the
piece, which evoke the spaciousness of landscape. Most of the music was
created by transforming instrumental sounds, but there are also
synthesised sounds. However, the only recognisable sound source is the
Northumbrian Pipes, whose drone is responsible for the slowly evolving
harmonies out of which its haunting traditional melody appears. |
Denis Smalley
studied music at the University of Canterbury and the Victoria University of
Wellington (New Zealand). He gained a French Government bursary in 1971, which
enabled him to spend a year in Olivier Messiaen’s composition class at the
Conservatoire de Paris, and at the same time taking the electroacoustic music
course run by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (Ina-GRM). He then moved to the
UK, where he completed the DPhil in composition at the University of York. In
1975 he took up a Composition Fellowship at the University of East Anglia
(Norwich, UK) and was appointed Lecturer in 1976 (Senior Lecturer from 1988),
with special responsibility for electroacoustic composition activities and
courses. In 1994 he was appointed Professor of Music and Head of the Department
of Music at City University (London, UK). |
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Chiaroscuro
(1987) 17’30” To François Bayle Plays of ambiguity. Of course, this ‘chiaroscuro’ is one of shadows and light, of opacity and transparency of sound, of the incertitude between one and the other. However, beyond this, it is the ambiguity, the hesitation between spoken and suggested, between face and mask (warning: a sound may hide another), between manifest and latent, enactment and illusion. ‘Trompe l’oreille’ music. As in much of my work, certain sound elements come from earlier pieces and are developed anew here. I like the fact that the discourse is continued, completed. In addition—and in homage to the composers of the Montréal concert organization Les Événements du Neuf (1978-89): José Evangélista, Denis Gougeon, John Rea and in particular to the memory of Claude Vivier — I gave in to musical larceny (with the unwary complicity of its victims) which, I hope, creates an iridescence here and there, a voluntarily enigmatic contrivance. Mutation of the musical instruments: mobility, relief, colours among the shadows… Chiaroscuro was realized at the composer’s studio and was premiered on April 10th, 1987 in Montréal. This piece was awarded the Prize of the 1st Magisterium of the 16th Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France, 1988) and was first released on the Cultures électroniques 3—Magisterium compact disc produced by the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Bourges (GMEB) on the Le chant du monde label (LDC 278048). Chiaroscuro was commissioned by Les Événements du Neuf and realized with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts. |
Francis Dhomont
studied under Ginette Waldmeier, Charles Koechlin and Nadia Boulanger. In the
late 40s, in Paris, he intuitively discovered with magnetic wire what Schaeffer
would later call musique concrète and consequently conducted solitary
experiments with the musical possibilities of sound recording. Later, leaving
behind instrumental writing, he dedicated himself exclusively to electroacoustic
composition. |
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Hot Air (1995) 22’12” One of the principal source sounds for this work – balloons from children’s parties – gave rise to a train of thought which, after linking ‘toy’ balloons to ‘hot air’ balloons, went on to draw in numerous other concepts of air (breath, utterance, natural phenomena) and heat (energy, action, danger). As work on the sound material progressed, other notions of air became important: motion through space; a certain fleeting quality; and air as the principal medium for the transmission of sound itself. The manner in which this happens (each air molecule vibrating about its current position and passing its energy on to its neighbour in alternating patterns of compression and rarefaction) became a model for the structure of the piece itself – a free association of sounds and references, each linking with and influencing its neighbour. Gradually, the referential, mimetic and environmental aspects of the piece revealed another, altogether more worrying image: that of the inflated balloon as a metaphor of the fragility of that very environment, of the Earth itself – capable of being manipulated, but not infinitely so. But beware! Danger! I run the risk of becoming too pompous, too ‘inflated’ with the importance of my theme. We should not forget that, in colloquial English, if what someone says is “hot air,” it means it lacks real substance, is rubbish, meaningless, bluff, all talk and no action, empty words… Hot Air was composed using the Groupe de Recherches Musicales’ (GRM) Syter and GRM Tools systems for the development of sound materials and the later stages in the compositional process took place in the composer’s studio and in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of The University of Birmingham. The work was first performed as part of the Son-Mu concert series in the Salle Olivier-Messiaen of the Maison de Radio-France (Paris, France) on May 22, 1995. Hot Air was commissioned by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (Ina-GRM). Thanks to Daniel Teruggi of the Ina-GRM for his help and patience. |
Jonty
Harrison
(born 1952) studied with Bernard Rands at the University of York, gaining his
DPhil in Composition in 1980. Between 1976 and 1980 he worked at the National
Theatre and City University in London. In 1980 he joined the Music Department of
The University of Birmingham, where he is now Professor of Composition and
Electroacoustic Music and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studios and
BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre). He has made several conducting
appearances with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (most notably
performing Stockhausen's Momente), the University New Music Ensemble and
the University Orchestra. He was a Board member of Sonic Arts Network for many
years. As a composer he has won several awards (Bourges International Electroacoustic Awards; Prix Ars Electronica, Linz; Musica Nova, Prague; the Lloyds Bank National Composers' Award; the PRS Prize; an Arts Council Composition Bursary; a Leverhulme Research Grant and two AHRB Small Research Grants) and received commissions from leading institutions and performers (Ina-GRM; GMEB, Bourges; the International Computer Music Association; MAFILM/Magyar Rádió; IRCAM/Ensemble InterContemporain; BBC; Sonorities Festival, Belfast; Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; Fine Arts Brass Ensemble; Nash Ensemble; Singcircle; Thürmchen Ensemble; John Harle; Harry Sparnaay; and Jos Zwaanenburg). His music is performed and broadcast worldwide, and several works are available on two 'solo' CDs (Articles indéfinis and Évidence matérielle) on the empreintes DIGITALes label (Montréal), and on compilation CDs from NMC (London), Mnémosyne Musique Média (Bourges, France), CDCM/Centaur (San Francisco), Asphodel (New York), EMF (New York) and Collins (London). |
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Rock‘n’Roll
(2004) 11’46” When we moved into our house, we inherited a heavy garden roller with a concrete wheel and a rusted steel tyre. Rolling this implement around the garden pathways proved sonically interesting, as did hastening the collapse of various bits of wall and other stonework. As you can probably tell, I'm no gardener! In the course of developing the material in the studio, my attention became more focused on the ‘rock’ sounds than on the roller sound which had originally caught my ear. In particular, I became preoccupied with getting as close as possible to the rocks (possibly even ‘inside’ them), in contrast to the more open, spacious and ‘environmental’ use of the roller material and the garden ambience. The 8-channel format allowed a further exaggeration of this contrast, using a stereo speaker array for the close material and a quasi-hexagonal surround array for the ambience. I am very grateful to Pete Batchelor who adapted some of his wonderful Max-MSP patches for me to use. Rock‘n’Roll is dedicated to my wife, Ali, who did the energetic bit of the recordings while I just stood around holding the microphone and yelling instructions! The title of the piece just had to be… |
Jonty Harrison (see above) |
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Dreams in the Desert (2001) 10’47” Dreams in the Desert calls to mind reveries of a person on a desert caravan. Scenes play through the dreamer’s mind; perhaps they are memories past or maybe longings for another time and place. Dreams in the Desert was composed in the electroacoustic studios at Bowling Green State University and in the composer’s home studio. |
Elainie Lillios’s music focuses on the essence of sound and suspension of time, conveying different emotions and taking listeners on ‘sonic journeys’. The sounds she uses for her music are varied – sometimes they are simple things like the human voice, cars, wind chimes, or water. Other times her sound material is less obvious, like crunching bits of branches, walking through snow, or pebbles shuffling in water. She holds degrees from Northern Illinois University, the University of North Texas, and The University of Birmingham where she studied electroacoustic composition and sound diffusion with Jonty Harrison. She has received commissions from ASCAP/SEAMUS, ICMA, La Muse en Circuit, New Adventures in Sound Art, and Réseaux, and awards/recognition from CIMESP, Russolo, and IMEB among others. Her music has been presented at conferences, concerts, and festivals internationally, including guest invitations to the GRM (Paris), Rien a Voir (Montreal), L’espace du son festival (Brussels), June in Buffalo, and Sonorities (SARC Centre, Belfast). Elainie’s music is available on the empreintes DIGITALes, StudioPANaroma, La Muse en Circuit, and SEAMUS labels, and is included on the CD accompaniment to New Adventures in Sound Art’s The Radio Art Companion. Elainie teaches music technology and composition at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, USA. |
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Onset/Offset (1996) 7’21” My previous tape piece Altered Images was concerned with the dual interpretation of the word ‘image’ on both aesthetic and sonic levels, Onset/Offset is concerned, even more than before, with exploiting the interplay between the original ‘meaning’ of sound objects and their spectro-morphological characteristics. Thus, there are many recognisable sounds in this piece which can, and should, be perceived on both levels – the sound of a key in a lock on one level refers to the action of unlocking a door, but on another, is also interesting as a pure sound in itself. Onset/Offset was realised in the Electroacoustic Music Studios at Northern College, Aberdeen and at the University of Birmingham in April 1996. It has received Honourable Mentions at the Stockholm Electronic Arts Award, 1996 and the 1st Pierre Schaeffer Competition for Electroacoustic Music, 1998 and was released on the Acousmatica CD label (CD 1298) in 1998 and also on Electroshock in 1999 (ELCD 010). It is also due for release by Sonic Arts Network in March 2003 on Legacies from Sargasso, to celebrate 20 years of BEAST. |
Pete
Stollery
(born 1960) studied composition with Jonty Harrison. He now composes almost
exclusively in the electroacoustic medium, particularly music where there exists
an interplay between the original ‘meaning’ of sounds and sounds existing purely
as sound, divorced from their physical origins. In his music, this is achieved
by the juxtaposition of real (familiar) and unreal (unfamiliar) sounds to create
surreal landscapes. His music is performed and broadcast throughout the world
and most of his works are available on CD. Shortstuff (digital music) was
awarded Special Prize in the Musica Nova 1994 competition; Onset/Offset
(digital music) was given an Honourable Mention at the Stockholm Electronic Arts
Award, 1996 and also the 1st Pierre Schaeffer Competition for Computer Music;
Altered Images (digital music) won 2nd prize at CIMESP '97 (Concurso
Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo): Vox Magna was awarded an
Honourable Mention in the Musica Nova 2003 competition. He has collaborated with a number of artists from all aspects of the arts, most notably sculptor Anne Bevan, with whom, along with choreographer Andy Howitt, he collaborated to produce the multimedia piece Sunnifa to great acclaim at the St Magnus Festival in Orkney. He has also worked with sound designer Peter Key on a number of projects including Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, UK and Magna in Rotherham, UK. He is currently Senior Lecturer in Music and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studios at the University of Aberdeen where he is able to guide school children, students and teachers in the creative use of technology in music education. He is also Artistic Director of discoveries an occasional series of concerts in Aberdeen which aims to bring together electroacoustic works by school children and students to be performed alongside works by established composers from around the world. He has been chair of Sonic Arts Network, the national organisation supporting electroacoustic music and sonic art in the UK, of which he was a director between 1985 until 2003 ; he was also editor of the Journal of Electroacoustic Music published annually by SAN. In 1996, along with Alistair MacDonald, Robert Dow and Simon Atkinson, he established the group invisiblEARts whose aim is to perform acousmatic music throughout Scotland and to promote Scottish acousmatic music to a wider audience, both in Scotland and abroad. |
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Caspian Retreat (2003) 11’ This is the first of three pieces, inspired by oceanic mythology from Persia, India and Europe. Caspian Retreat explores the beauty and complexities of contemporary life in a land steeped in ancient art, culture and music; a land rich in colour, smell and sound. Using recordings I collected from the Caspian Sea and the city of Tehran, Iran, Caspian Retreat journeys into the mysticism of ancient and modern Persia… retreat v.1 a intr. (esp. of military forces) go back, retire; relinquish a position b tr. cause to retreat; move back. 2 intr. (esp. of features) recede. n. 1a the act or instance of retreating. b Mil. a signal for this. 2 withdrawal into privacy or security. 3 a place of shelter or seclusion. 4 a period of seclusion for prayer and meditation. 5 Mil. a bugle call at sunset. [from Latin retrahere ‘to draw back’] Caspian Retreat was written at a time when Iran was announced by Bush to be one of three countries on the ‘axis of evil’. |
Pippa Murphy is an independent composer living in Edinburgh. She works with artists and performers in concerts, festivals and radio broadcasts in the UK and abroad. Recently awarded a Scottish Arts Council music bursary to write 3 electroacoustic pieces inspired by oceanic mythology from Persia, India and Europe. She facilitated Sound Design workshops for university students & professional artists at the Fadj International Film & Theatre Festival in Iran. She completed her BMus, MA and PhD degrees at The University of Birmingham and, as a member of BEAST (Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre) for 10 years, has been involved in performances and sound diffusions in the UK and Europe. She is currently lecturing at the University of Edinburgh & Aberdeen University. Recent projects include: Music for Gilt, a 7:84 Theatre Company production; guest resident composer at ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe; education projects with asylum seekers in Sight Hill, Glasgow and new commissions for the Paragon Ensemble, Scotland and Contemporary Music For Amateurs (COMA). She is an elected director of Sonic Arts Network and UNESCO GAIN. |
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