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STUDIO Z Blog

A PROJECT OF ZEITGEIST NEW MUSIC

Composer Scott Miller on "Consortia"

5/16/2013

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Zeitgeist's upcoming Early Inspirations concert features new works influenced by music of the Renaissance and Baroque, including Scott Miller's "Consortia." Scott steps in as a guest blogger to tell us more about the piece. 


Consortia is a revised version of an earlier work, Consortium, adapted for ensembles of any size or instrumentation. It is the result of work that never made it into the multimedia chamber opera The Cosmic Engine. The electroacoustic background structure and live improvisations are based on the works of two English Renaissance composers, William Byrd and John Jenkins. A prerecorded version of the Jenkins melody (as recorded by cellist Jacqueline Ultan) begins the work, processed in real-time by the computer. The ensemble joins, improvising around the two English Renaissance themes, which are themselves processed by the computer, building a fabric of sound constructed of all these sources.

The computer processing of the sampled sound is inspired by the intersection of the ancient ideas of canon and isorhythm, and the rather more modern ideas of sample looping and phase-shifting. In the performance, the audio technician records, transforms and loops a portion of each melody in a large window of time, between two and six beats wide. Over the course of 11 minutes, this window gradually traverses the length of a 32-beat melody, all the time adjusting and transforming the material being looped, in addition to being modulated by computer tracking of the performers. This creates a kind of canon that is the foundation for the live, improvised performance that implements this same idea of moving windows to both melodic lines.

-Scott Miller






Scott Miller is a composer of electroacoustic, orchestral, chamber, choral and multimedia works frequently performed at venues and in exhibitions throughout North America and Europe. His music has been described as 'not for the faint-hearted listener' (Juliet Patterson, mnartists.org) and 'inspir[ing] real hope & optimism for the future of electroacoustic music.' (Simon Cummings, 5against4.com). Known for his interactive electroacoustic chamber music and experimental performance pieces, Miller has received honors and awards from the Jerome Foundation, the McKnight Fellowship for Composition, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Central Minnesota State Arts Board, and the MUSICA NOVA 98 International Electroacoustic Music Competition. Recordings of his music have been released on Innova, Eroica, CRS, rarescale and SEAMUS, is published by ACA (American Composers Alliance), Tetractys, and Jeanné. 

Miller is a Professor of Music at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, where he teaches composition, electroacoustic music and theory. He is currently Vice President of Programs for the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the U.S. (SEAMUS). He has lectured on electroacoustic music and composition in universities and secondary schools across the United States, Europe and Mexico. He holds degrees from The University of Minnesota, The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and the State University of New York at Oneonta, and has studied composition at the Czech-American Summer Music Institute and the Centre de Creation Musicale Iannis Xenakis. 


Early Inspirations
May 17-18, 7:30 p.m.
May 19, 2 p.m.
Studio Z
275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul
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Justin Rubin on "The armed man should be feared"

5/15/2013

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Zeitgeist's upcoming Early Inspirations concerts feature new works influenced by music of the Renaissance and Baroque, including Justin Rubin's "The armed man should be feared... and other lessons from the Renaissance." Justin steps in as a guest blogger to tell us more about the piece. 


I was always perplexed why certain songs from the Renaissance became so incredibly popular – they became the source musical ideas for enormous Masses by leading composers hundreds of miles and decades apart, their tunes were adapted to widely divergent texts that seemed to have nothing to do with one another, and their root texts seemed strange to begin with.  So I decided to tackle three of these, each with its own perspective.

As an organist I've always been connected to the music of the Baroque and Renaissance, so the titles and tunes have been swimming in my head for twenty-odd years. However, as the years go by contemporary historical events - real events - have changed and shaped the way I hear them, and how I interpret their meanings. These tunes are not frozen in time; they are living things that have meaning to us today, even if not those intended by their authors. I have approached each tune/text in just this way - they are not settings but 'plays' on the Fear of the Armed Man - the forced choice on the Young Lady – and our constant reminder that as with the Fox that Comes to Towne we are not quite masters of our environment. 


I: L'homme armé
    I tried to imagine this shiny but anxious town where everyone is walking around in suits of iron going about their everyday chores, all the while looking over  their collective shoulders because they fear one another.  In the end everything  stops suddenly – fear has frozen them for good.

II: Une Jeune Fillette
This is an in-joke of sorts – the young lady is represented in the opening by the piano, lush harmonies that extol the freedom of a chromatic landscape.  Then she is transformed by the implementation of a canon – the double entendre of the strict musical imitative form and that of the Canon to which she now belongs.  Now the chromaticism is stripped away…mostly.

III: Tomorrow the Fox will come to towne

    Quite literally this song is about the chaos that results from the smallest of  problems in life as it scares the heck out of someone.  He seems, as the song  continues, to be the only one who believes that this one problem will wreck  untold havoc on everyone in town.  This one is personal for me – I haven’t had  any run-ins with any foxes but a year ago or so I came out of my garage to find a bear rummaging through my garbage.  Being originally from New York City, I began calling every neighbor and official in town; no one seemed either surprised or perturbed.  So in the piece I pictured the fox scurrying around the town, smiling, while the poet (and myself) becomes increasingly unhinged.


-Justin Rubin





Following studies at the Manhattan School of Music, Purchase College in New York and the University of Arizona, composer and organist Dr. Justin Rubin (b. 1971) came to Minnesota in 1998 where he became chair of the theory and composition program at UMD and holds the position of Professor. In 2009 he was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Teachers. As a recipient of a BMI Composition Award, a Fulbright Scholarship, and support from Meet-the-Composer, the McKnight Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the Institute for Advanced Study, Rubin maintains an active career as a composer and performer. He has presented concerts across the United States and in Europe and has recorded two CDs of contemporary piano music as well as two organ CDs. Rubin has just completed a cycle of three chamber music CDs exclusively of his own compositions: A Waltz Through the Vapor (Innova, 2013), Constellations (MSR Classics, 2011), and Nostalgia (Innova, 2009). He lives with his wife Erica and their son Max in Duluth.





Early Inspirations
May 17-18, 7:30 p.m.
May 19, 2 p.m.
Studio Z
275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul

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James Holdman on "A Gondola Evades Us"

5/9/2013

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Zeitgeist's upcoming "Early Inspirations" concerts feature new works influenced by music of the Renaissance and Baroque, including James Holdman's "A Gondola Evades Us." James steps in as a guest blogger to tell us more about the piece. 


A Gondola Evades Us is based on "Moro, lasso, al mio duolo" from Carlo Gesualdo's Book of Madrigals No. 6 (1611). The unusual opening chord sequence of "Moro, lasso," drives the harmonic structure of this piece composed for piano and percussion. Gesualdo*, an Italian Nobleman of the late Renaissance, composed with a chromaticism atypical of this period, even as his crafting of madrigal counterpoint remained idiomatic. Gesualdo's music may have never been widely known if it weren't for the scrutiny placed on him as a result of the murder of his wife and her lover, a deed done at the composer's own hands. The contrapuntal nature of the Italian madrigal, Gesualdo's chromatic experimentation, and perhaps even a prodding from his well-documented psychopathology all come to influence A Gondola Evades Us.

*(Gesualdo lived in south-central Italy, more than three hundred miles from Venice – nary a gondola to be found).

-James Holdman





James Holdman is a composer, performer, improviser and educator. His compositions, which are influenced by American popular music, world music and post-tonal art music, have been performed locally and nationally. As an active performer, current ensembles include the Marimba Bullies, a Zimbabwe mbira-influenced marimba group; Deep Midnight, a Greek rembetika duo; and earWorm, an electroacoustic improvisation ensemble. Holdman is currently a faculty member at Inver Hills Community College.





Early Inspirations
May 17-18, 7:30 p.m.
May 19, 2 p.m.
Studio Z
275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul

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ANCIA Saxophone Quartet Concert Preview

5/3/2013

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We spoke with baritone saxophonist Angela Wyatt of the ANCIA Saxophone Quartet to hear more about the music the group will perform in concert on May 4, 7:30 p.m. at Studio Z. 


How did you decide which works to program on this concert at Studio Z? 

We knew that Studio Z patrons would enjoy a contemporary program, so we were eager to program some of our newer repertoire. Jeff Herriott's piece as night descends, the waters beckon was written for us several years ago and we are pleased to be performing that again. Both Picasso Cubed by Fred Sturm and Jonathan Doves' Tuning In are interesting pieces that we enjoy playing and thought the audience would also enjoy.


Composer Jeff Herriott will be joining you for a pre-concert talk this Saturday, and you'll perform his work as night descends, the waters beckon for saxophone quartet and electronics. Were you able to collaborate with Jeff on this work? How did his involvement change your interpretation of the music?

We spent one week in Ely, MN working with Jeff as he prepared to write as night descends, the waters beckon. Jeff sampled each of us playing and used those samples in the compositional process. We didn't collaborate in the sense that we contributed compositional ideas. However, Jeff heard us in rehearsals and got to know us as we spent time together. We enjoyed cooking and eating together when we weren't rehearsing.

Jeff has been able to explain to us exactly what his intentions are in each section of the piece. This has clarified performance techniques and timings, among other things.


Earlier this season you performed Philip Glass' Concerto for Saxophone Quartet with the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra, and you'll play it at Studio Z in an arrangement for quartet only. How has the preparation for these two performances differed? 

Yes, the performance of the Philip Glass Concerto with the Wayzata Symphony was a highlight for ANCIA. Marlene Pauley is a gifted musician and conductor and really opened our ears to the possibilities in the music. We met with Marlene as a quartet before rehearsing with the orchestra and were able to come to agreement on tempos and style. Although the concerto performance was memorable, we've come to realize that the quartet version is really a different piece, so have made adjustments for that. Since we are playing all the parts it is more physically demanding than playing with the orchestra. 





ANCIA Saxophone Quartet
May 4, 2013, 7:30 p.m.

Pre-concert talk with composer Jeff Herriott at 7:00 p.m.
Studio Z, 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul
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Studio Z  •  275 East Fourth Street Suite 200, Saint Paul, MN  •  (651) 755-1600