tape (audio) playback

tp

AUTOMOBLIE GRAVEYARD

Composer: 
Robert Ceely
Instrumentation freestyle: 
Fl, ob, A Cl, Alto Sax, Bar, Sax, Bsn, Tpt, hn, tbn, pno/cel, vn, vla, vcl, bass, drum set
Emanu, trumpet player- Baritone Dilla, a young women- Soprano Milos, a bellhop- Bass-buffo Lasca, a middle-aged woman- Soprane Tiossido, a very young man- Tenor Tope, clarinet player- Tenor Fodere, a mute- Alto Sax

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subjacent queue

Composer: 
James Sain
Instrumentation freestyle: 
fixed media

subjacent queue (2009), for solo digital media, is about musical roots. Whether from a 15th-Century armed man or the contrabass of Charles Mingus, foundations are essential. The electroacoustic “urlinie” of subjacent queue is based in the composer's descent into his own concatenated musical and personal underpinnings.

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Instruments

redbird express

Composer: 
James Sain
Instrumentation freestyle: 
fixed media

redbird express (2010), for solo digital media, is an aural whirlwind journey through the internationally and topographically rich neighborhoods pierced by the No. 7 train of the New York City subway system Flushing Line. This line was the last in New York to see the World’s Fair era cars retired in 2003. Painted a red hue, the cars were nicknamed “Redbird.” After their retirement nearly 1300 retired Redbird cars were sunk off the US coastline to create artificial reefs. As a child, the composer visited the 1964 World’s fair in New York and was allowed by a conductor to push the button that opened the Redbird train’s doors upon arriving at the fair in Queens. Little did the composer know his fascination with these trains would turn musical 45 years later while visiting the city for the first annual New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival.

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Instruments

DARWIN'S DREAM

Composer: 
Elliott Schwartz
Instrumentation freestyle: 
any melodic instrument, piano, tape playback

Flexible instrumentation-- a duo of melody instrument and piano, plus CD recording (electronic collage of many sound sources). Visual image projection and narration by a third performer are optional.  All performers speak isolated lines of text written by Charles Darwin.  Performers work with a 30-minute CD recording, and choose a portion of that recording (anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes). They then perform (some improvised) material, using an instruction sheet, against the recorded sounds.  An homage to Charles Darwin -- his life and work - in celebration of his 200th birthday year.

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Instruments

COLLAGE CONCERTANTE

Composer: 
Elliott Schwartz
Instrumentation freestyle: 
cl, tpt, pno, guitar, drumset, boom box for CD playback
Collage Concertante is a two-movement work which uses the a multifaceted concerto model as its springboard, and also (in a manner related to visual “collage”) incorporates pre-existing fragments – musical and otherwise – into its texture. The first movement, Birthday Tribute, began as a piano piece honoring the bicentennials of Chopin and Schumann (both born in 1810), and evolved into a miniature neo-Romantic piano concerto. (The “orchestra” in this instance includes live performers and recorded sounds.) The entire fabric draws upon quotations – musical and otherwise – from Robert, Clara, Frederic and George. Round Robin,   on the other hand, is influenced by the model of Baroque concerto grosso. In this movement the pianist (having held the spotlight earlier) becomes a bit player. The other four ensemble members take turns as soloist, with tutti passages separating each solo section. This format gave rise to the title “Round Robin,” which in turn led me to use pre-existing materials related to robins. (Sources range from the 13th-century Adam de la Halle to Edward MacDowell to English folk song to Al Jolson.) 

Ensemble Type

audio/mpeg iconschwartzcollageconcertanteexcerpt.mp3

Instruments

19-tone Clusters

Composer: 
Hubert Howe
Instrumentation freestyle: 
fixed media playback

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Instruments

Clusters (electronic)

Composer: 
Hubert Howe
Instrumentation freestyle: 
audio; stereo or octaphonic versions

Ensemble Type

audio/mpeg iconClusters (excerpt)

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Genre/Theme

VOYAGER

Composer: 
Richard McCandless
Instrumentation freestyle: 
Percussion, tape

This work takes its name from the Voyager 1 spacecraft launched by NASA in 1977. As it flew past Saturn, Voyager used that planet's gravitational field to propel itself toward deep space, becoming the first human-made object to leave our solar system. Voyager's journey is immense. Traveling about 1,000,000 miles a day, it will take 20,000 years to leave the gravitational field of the Sun. Voyager will then enter deep space and travel for billions of years. At some point during this journey, the Sun will be no more than a charred cinder and human beings may no longer exist. But Voyager will be traveling on.

Ensemble Type

audio/mpeg iconmccandlessvoyagerexcerpt.mp3

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Genre/Theme

3 SITUATIONS FOR PIANO AND FIXED MEDIA

Composer: 
Ken Steen
Instrumentation freestyle: 
piano + fixed media (prerecorded audio soundtrack on CD)

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