Adrian Moore: Rêve de l’aube: track detail

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Rêve de l’aube
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1. Dreaming of the Dawn (2004) 14m01s imed_0684-1.1 | 10071 | ISRC CAD500620420

Commission: Ina-GRM

Premiere: March 14, 2004, Salle Olivier Messiaen — Maison de Radio France (Paris, France)

MP3 Real

The title, Dreaming of the Dawn comes from a short poem by Emily Dickinson. The work uses heavily treated instrumental recordings (mainly woodwind) and has at its heart, a kind of ‘orchestral’ feel (partly due to the way in which the sounds were ‘orchestrated’). During the process of making the material, the poem was always present, along with its bleak and somewhat contradictory undertones. It took a long time to find the sound that was going to represent the work (first heard after a 10-second introduction).

Many ideas were ‘in the air’ as the work was mixed, including the continued search for formal cohesion, not just through highly obvious repetition and demarcation of phrases, but through consistency of working method and constraint within the sound material.

The work begins in a reflective mood with a short passage using woodwind sounds. The ‘signature’ theme then appears (a pitch shifted sound with plenty of foldover frequencies). A thorough development begins after about one minute using a tumbling rhythm. The structural analogy (if there is one) is that of a journey in a ‘stick shift’ car. We are getting from A to B but what is perhaps more interesting is the continual use of the clutch, gear lever, brake and accelerator in propelling us forward, never at quite the same speed.

The opening wind passage recurs and is immediately answered, sending us off into another development of the ‘signature’ material this time somewhat more relaxed. A high-frequency splintered sound leads directly to a ‘comedy moment’ (a ludicrous chord, often heard in horror films) but this is short-lived and we quickly enter another development passage, this time culminating with high-energy pulse. The opening returns and suggests a programmatic rendition of the Dickinson text with its bird-like imitations, but it’s all preparation for the final statement of the ‘signature.’

Dreams — are well — but Waking’s better,
If One Wake at Morn -
If One wake at Midnight — better -
Dreaming — of the Dawn -

Sweeter — the Surmising Robins -
Never Gladdened Tree -
Than a Solid Dawn — confronting -
Leading to no Day -
-[J 450 (1862) / F 449 (1862)], Emily Dickinson

[ix-06]

Dreaming of the Dawn was mixed in January 2006 in the Studio 116A of the Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM) in Paris (France) and premiered on March 14, 2004 in the Salle Olivier Messiaen of the Maison de Radio France (Paris, France). The piece was commissioned by the Ina-GRM. Dreaming of the Dawn was awarded the First Prize (ex-æquo) at the 2004 Música Viva Festival’s Electroacoustic Composition Competition (Portugal).

2. Power Tools (2004) 14m25s imed_0684-1.2 | 18897 | ISRC CAD500620430

Commission: IMEB

Premiere: June 4, 2004, Festival Synthèse, Palais Jacques-Cœur (Bourges, France)

MP3 Real

Many years ago, I asked my friend Jo Hyde about a certain sound in one of his works. He told me he’d used power tools. For a second I thought he was talking about some fancy piece of software but in actual fact he just meant the sound of engineering tools such as a drill.

Since then, I have been listening to and recording noisy sounds, many of which I originally thought would be extremely difficult to use, let alone listen to. Many of my earlier pieces (especially works like Junky) rely upon stable drones so I knew that working with noisier sounds would be difficult. Power Tools draws upon sounds such as that of a lawn mower, a hedge trimmer and a recording of a steel factory from Sheffield, the town where I live and work.

Like many of my other works, Power Tools is sectional but not due to the kinds of sounds or processes used. Quite simply, there are passages which are really quite noisy and when they subside, we move towards sounds that are less prominent, less ’real life.’

[ix-06]

Power Tools was realized in 2004 in the composer’s studio and mixed in the Studio Circé of the Institut de musique expérimentale de Bourges (IMEB) in February 2004 and premiered on June 4, 2004 at Palais Jacques-Cœur during the Synthèse Festival (Bourges, France). The piece was commissioned by the IMEB.

3. Piano Piece (for Peter) (2004) 7m19s imed_0684-1.3 | 18895 | ISRC CAD500620440

Commission: Peter Hill

Premiere: March 26, 2004, Electric Spring Festival (Huddersfield, England, UK)

MP3 Real

piano, and tape
Peter Hill, piano

In the Autumn of 2003 Peter Hill asked me to write a piece for the Electric Spring Festival in Huddersfield (UK). This was indeed a challenge. To write again for instrument and tape (not to mention for an internationally renowned pianist), and to find the time to complete something that was both fitting and worthy during a period when I was also working on two tape pieces was quite daunting.

My research was focused towards fusing piano and tape through pitch whilst keeping the pitch material quite flexible. Influences included Smalley’s Piano Nets and Scriabin’s Piano Sonata no 6, op 62, a work Scriabin never played in public because of its ‘devilishness.’

In some respects this piano piece has a similar ‘dark’ feel to it. The tape part should at times act as a ‘wash,’ the pianist quite clearly having the dominant role. At other times however, the tape acts as a ‘shroud’ through which the pianist forces his image. The piece builds to a climax around 4min through a series of long phrases of up to one minute. A reprise of the climax at 6min and a return to the opening harmony heralds the conclusion of the work.

[ix-06]

Piano Piece (for Peter) was realized in January 2004 in the composer’s studio and premiered on March 26, 2004 by Peter Hill during the Electric Spring Festival in Huddersfield (UK). The piece was commissioned by Peter Hill.

Sea of Singularity (2001-03) 31m48s imed_0684-1.4 | 18894 | ISRC CAD500620450

Premiere: October 4, 2002, L’Espace du son, Théâtre Marni (Brussels, Belgium)

Becalmed; Mutiny on the Bounty; Third mint sauce (or sheep appoggiatura); Horse with shouting; Still Life (as we know it); In Paradisum

Sea of Singularity presents a world of sound interrelationships in 6 movements. Its techniques are the ‘coloring’ and ‘framing’ of natural sound within a broad electroacoustic environment with the use of a blunt knife and relatively simple processes. I was influenced by the theories and artwork of the Fauves whose early 20th century works question the emotional experience with intense colour.

[ix-06]

Sea of Singularity was composed in 2000-02 at The University of Sheffield Sound Studios (USSS) (UK) and the complete cycle was premiered on October 4, 2002 in Théâtre Marni during the festival Espace du son in Brussels (Belgium).

4. Becalmed (2001-03) 4m00s imed_0684-1.4.4 | 19480 |

This movement was composed around samples of two horses breathing, two contrasting water samples (harmonised with the sound of an accordion), a funfair and an expansive open air scene near my home. This movement is formed around two attack gestures and is otherwise very slow moving, light and reflective. Resonating with the overall title of the work, Becalmed is an escape away from the rapid flow of information in my previous electroacoustic work.

[ix-06]

5. Mutiny on the Bounty (2001-03) 5m35s imed_0684-1.4.5 | 19481 | ISRC CAD500620460

A brash opening leads to music heard in a Berlin subway station before a drawn-out bell-like texture takes over the remainder of the movement (which in turn moves towards St Mark’s, Venice).

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6. Third mint sauce (or sheep appoggiatura) (2001-03) 5m39s imed_0684-1.4.6 | 19482 | ISRC CAD500620470

MP3 Real

Section A: The Plaintive sounds of the flock are captured in time and contrasted with Venetian gondolas lapping against the canal-side. Section B, ties a memory of the past with metaphors of travel in another relaxed scene, leading to a new water harmonisation. The title of this movement naturally refers to some of the source material (with caricature).

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7. Horse with shouting (2001-03) 4m12s imed_0684-1.4.7 | 19483 | ISRC CAD500620480

Horse / Hoarse: a play on words. This movement contrasts vocal synthesis with two German Police horses trotting in the park. Juxtaposition of contrasting sound is the primary motivating force behind the movement. The sounds are cut into slabs and placed ‘mosaic’ style in time.

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8. Still Life (as we know it) (2001-03) 7m03s imed_0684-1.4.8 | 19484 | ISRC CAD500620490

MP3 Real

In a bizarre twist of the 18th and 20th Centuries this movement places the inanimate on a pedestal, shrugs its shoulders, laughs at it and gets on with life. More synthetic sounds including some of the grit, blips and bursts of the here and now wrestle with the peaceful sounds of lapping water against Italian gondolas (oscillating in pitch and duration). After a fairly hectic opening minute, this movement too remains fairly static. The title plays upon our conception of paintings of the same name seen (in negative) through the eyes of Captain Spock (“it’s life Jim, but not as we know it”) and pre-empts…

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9. In Paradisum (2001-03) 5m14s imed_0684-1.4.9 | 19485 | ISRC CAD500620500

The white, fluffy clouds of a permanent ecstasy are stained with the grease of commercialism. The Sea of Singularity may well be crowded, but we are all alone.

[ix-06]

Adrian Moore: Rêve de l’aube: track detail

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