On Monday May 16th, the Hunter Music Composition Department presented their works and were performed/documented by the International Contemporary Ensemble. Below are the video links and programs for each composer (Vimeo password: ice).
Sonorous – Katie Gordon (click here)
SONOROUS (Katherine Gordon) is a contemporary piece for string quartet. The work explores the expansion of time and sound through a balance of harmonic and nonharmonic tones. The piece begins with a wall of sound that is very open and pure, but over time the chord’s timbre changes with the additions of harmonics and dissonances. From this, a simple melody emerges that is rhythmically compacted as the piece progresses. Voices harmonize and counter this melody until the piece climaxes into a hauntingly still passage. After a slight pause, the piece ends with a codetta that returns the piece to its opening timbre.
String Quartet – Scott Miller (click here)
Un Coin de Ciel Brulait – Alyssa Regent (click here)
Un Coin de Ciel Brulait (tr. Burnt a corner of the sky) is my attempt at emulating how heartbreak can manifest itself. What pouring out love into a world that constantly rejects it feels like. Chaos.
I believe that as human beings, we are constantly looking for acceptance on many different levels, and in this piece, I have decided to address what a journey in search of romantic love can sometimes feel like. Disorienting, excruciating, poignant, clumsy, desperate, and melancholic. However, it can also be soft, soothing, gentle, and passionate when feelings are reciprocated, when love has been accepted by the “other.” Those moments are few and far between and yet, they define the nature of our inner emotional life. We find love everywhere but especially in the details of a relationship. It’s in a lingering look, a stolen smile, or running a finger over a hand. I find this journey fascinating, as it is one we willfully embark on every waking moment of our lives.
This is the first movement of the quartet which exposes the chaos, woundedness, confusion and exhaustion of this search for acceptance. The piece is inspired by the work of Pina Bausch, Alban Berg and Lili Boulanger.
Disturbed Wind – Ralph Mendoza (click here)
Disturbed Wind (Ralph Mendoza) – This piece germinated from my travel to Paraguay, when I was field
recording the wonderful sonorous singing birds of South America – arial singers whose songs were unfamiliar to me from my native homeland of New York. And on my trip to the Paraguay River, drought, garbage and noise pollution welcomed me on its bank. It was so jarring to witness firsthand the human impact we had on Mother Nature. The continuous toll this river has taken with years of neglect. This piece focuses on the feeling of serenity, jarriness and disruptiveness.
The Garden of Statues – Lili Tobias (click here)
The Garden of Statues (Lili Tobias) is about a dream I had the night of 12/27 – 12/28/2021.
