PROGRAM
Duncan Hal: Perspectives Balance, Mvmt I: “Ascension 625”
Vibraphone: Elyssa Arde and Kelsey Choi
A grid of 5×5 chords creates a list of 25 potential two-chord harmonic progressions. A human input of relative tension/release values is assigned to each progression – these are the tension/release weightings. Superimpose that list against itself in a 25×25 grid, each cell delivers a two voice, two chord harmonic progression with each weighting combining to create 625 individually weighted progressions – a few of which were hand selected and placed in juxtaposition. An interwoven fabric is created – but of whose world is it: man or machine?
Stephen Morris: Spiral Staircases In Dreams
Guitar: Christian Le
Spiral Staircases In Dreams is a musical expression of walking down a spiral staircase in an ethereal dream world, where other fields of thought can interject and the path can twist and turn in unexpected ways. The long-term plan of the piece descends in register and gradually changes timbre to portray the descent down the stairs into the unknown. The piece was written for Salvatore Contrino and dedicated to Qi Fei. It received an honorable mention in the ECHI Tocammi International Competition (Italy).
Parisa Sabet: Silent
Silent is a multimedia project commissioned by the Charsu Quartet for clarinet, cello, piano, audio playback, dance, and visuals. The project is centered on the poem Wind-Up Doll by female Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad (1934 – 1967), a controversial modernist and iconoclast. While the world premier of Silent is planned for next year, it felt right to share the audio component of the project with the University of Toronto’s composition community considering what’s been happening in the streets of Iran these days.
Luke Blackmore: Proto-Sequence I
Proto-Sequence I is the prototypical version of a larger work for drum set and electronics. In this piece, I manipulate recorded samples as if they were a MIDI instrument through the use of step-sequencers. Recorded audio is spliced, reversed, inverted, and otherwise manipulated electronically. The result is a drum part which glitches and trips over itself, playing impossibly complex rhythmic minutia, which in the final version will be approximated on the live drum set. I wanted this prototype version to exist, however, because I think these technological imperfections add a quirk and character to the electronics part, which can’t be replicated in live playing.
version to exist, however, because I think these technological imperfections add a quirk and character to the electronics part, which can’t be replicated in live playing.