piste@eam_2001-1
To my father
Superstrings uses natural string sounds: those made from the piano and harpsichord, predominantly harmonics and gestures made by scraping the strings with the hands and other objects. There are also passages where these instruments perform in the manner in which they were originally conceived with single notes, clusters, strings of pseudo-random walks and harmonic passages being played either by hand or with the help of a Yahama Disklavier.
Superstrings resides in a world of pitched and pulsed sections and drifts from the real into the unreal. The sectional nature of the work is highlighted by two similar but contrasting pulsed passages ‘colored’ and articulated with other sounds. Repetition of other material leads to further understanding of the hierarchies of sound that made up the work.
Superstrings as a word relates to the scientific theory of matter. All matter is made up of superstrings that are multi-dimensional and wave-like in nature. Imagine a nebula where energy and matter collide in a sea of light and heat. The soundworld of Superstrings pulses with this raw energy.
[ix-06]
Superstrings was realized in 1998-99 at the University of Sheffield Sound Studios (USSS, UK) and premiered on March 9, 2000 during the SEAMUS “Acousma-Tex Conference” at the University of North Texas, Denton (USA). It was first recorded in 2001 on the CD Music from SEAMUS — volume 10 (EAM 2001).
piste@eam_2001-1.4
oeuvre@10290
Arturo was written based on an interview with a tarot card reader living in Denton (Texas, USA). Arturo requests visitors to “… please let me answer the questions before you ask them,” and claims that most times, he does. After years of palmistry and tarot readings, Arturo has interacted with many people and has learned many life lessons. This piece reflects some of his views on life and the casting of cards to reveal future possibilities.
[iii-11]
Arturo was realized in 1998 in the Electroacoustic Studios of The University of Birmingham (England, UK) and premiered on October 23, 1998 during the First Symposium on Music and Computers at the Ionian University in Corfu (Greece). Recordings of Arturo were made in the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia (CEMI) studios at the University of North Texas, Denton (Texas, USA) in August 1997, engineered by Michael Thompson. Thanks to Arturo for visiting, Laura Romberg for support, and Jonty Harrison for compositional guidance. Arturo was awarded First Prize in the ASCAP / SEAMUS Student Commission Competition (Texas, USA, 2000), was a winner in the La Muse en Circuit’s Radiophonic Art Competition (Paris, France, 2003), was a finalist in the Luigi Russolo International Competition (Varese, Italy, 1999), and received a Mention in the 26th Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France, 1999).
piste@eam_2001-1.6
oeuvre@20458