“The Neo-Impressionist painter does not paint with little dots; he divides.” So writes Paul Signac (1863-1935) in his 1899 divisionist manifesto “From Eugène Delacroix to Neo- Impressionism.”
For Paul Signac is a musical and visual illustration of some of Signac's points (forgive the
pun): the instruments are divided into two groups; they are separated into “diverse elements”; the balance between the colors of the ensemble is shifted; timbres are blended. Because Signac begins with the idea of pointillism, the attacks at the start of the piece are very short. As the piece goes on, the prominent durations lengthen.
The electronic part uses granular synthesis, echoing the idea of breaking something up into smaller parts: recorded samples of the ensemble are broken up into smaller units. This technique is used for the electronic part at the beginning using the more percussive sounds of the piece (slap tongues, key clicks) and at the end, with samples of the piano and vibraphone. I am grateful to Sam Pluta for his help realizing the electronic part.
“Using a brushstroke proportional to the dimensions of the painting.” This is illustrated
musically with literal brushstrokes: the percussionist is playing the vibraphone with a bow and the pianist is bowing the strings of the piano with fishing line. Visually, this section has the slowest animation rate.
The visual images were created from digital photographs of prints of Signac's paintings. The piece may be performed with video (please see http://www.vimeo.com/21470288), it may be performed with video during the opening and closing sections of the piece (as it was in its premiere), or it may be performed without video.
The piece was created for a concert at The Walden School in Dublin, NH. The performers were members of the Wet Ink Ensemble:
Kate Soper, soprano
Erin Lesser, flute
Meighan Stoops, clarinet/bass clarinet Alex Mincek, tenor saxophone Matthew Hough, electric guitar
Eric Wubbels, piano
Russell Greenberg, percussion
Sam Pluta, electronics
Carl Bettendorf, conductor
Performed by the Guerrilla Composers Guild, San Francisco, CA
Unless Acted Upon is a sound representation of Newton’s First Law of Motion: A body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an external, unbalanced force. A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an external, unbalanced force. This piece explores several ways in which forces can affect a body in motion.
performed by the Apple Hill String Quartet. Video by Mike Kelley.
Natasha Farny plays “Crossings” at Pausa Art House, Buffalo, NY
String Tunes is a collection of music I have been working on since 2006 for different subsets of seven instruments: three violins, viola, two celli, and contrabass. The title is descriptive: some of these pieces are in just intonation; some of the movements are played scordatura (retuned); and some of the music is inspired by fiddle tunes. It is an immense set of pieces; the finished collection will last more than an hour.
Crossings falls into the category of “Finger Music,” a term I use for music that is about the left hand: one finger pattern is repeated on different strings. While Bach’s unaccompanied works often have finger patterns heard at different pitch levels, this left-hand music capitalizing on scordatura tunings is unusual. Because the “Finger Music” pieces are left-hand conceptions, many of these pieces can be played on violin, viola, or cello.
Commissioned by Music in the American Wild to be presented at Seneca Falls National Historic Park, “Solitude of Self” presents a strong argument for women’s rights. The text is drawn from a speech Elizabeth Cady Stanton gave in 1892.
Wavefield (after Maya Lin) from Storm King Suite for viola and cello
Wavefield (after Maya Lin) from Caroline Mallonee's Storm King Suite for viola and cello
Storm King Suite is a set of nine pieces inspired by artwork by Richard Serra, Andy Goldsworthy, and Maya Lin. Each of these artists has pieces at Storm King Art Center in the Hudson Valley, and it was there that the piece was conceived. Wavefield is the most substantial of the pieces in the suite and was inspired by Maya Lin’s undulating landscape installation at Storm King. The music imitates the waviness of the field—in oscillating notes, in dynamic swells, in contour changes, and in string crossings (so that the bow arms of the instrumentalists trace the shape of the land).
String Tunes
String Tunes is an hour-long group of pieces for different subsets of seven instruments: three violins, viola, two celli, and contrabass.
Some of the pieces are in just intonation; some of the movements are played scordatura (retuned); and some of the music is inspired by fiddle tunes. Several of the pieces use electronic processing.
from String Tunes.
For voice and piano. (2006)
Paint colors by Martha Stewart. Performed by Michael Manganiello.
performed by Haruka Fujii, percussion, and Eric Huebner, piano
Expanding Fractal 3
by Caroline Mallonee
performed at Burchfield Penney Art Center
Kimberly Sparr, viola
Natasha Farny, cello
May 10, 2019
Expanding Fractal 3 (for Andy Goldsworthy)
from Storm King Suite by Caroline Mallonee
performed at Burchfield Penney Art Center
Kimberly Sparr, viola
Natasha Farny, cello
May 10, 2019
Serra I by Caroline Mallonee
performed at Burchfield Penney Art Center
Kimberly Sparr, viola
Natasha Farny, cello
May 10, 2019
performed by Vox16,
Markdavin Obenza, conductor
Available from Swirly Music: https://www.swirlymusic.org/music/choral-music/caroline-mallonee-o-lux-satb/
Performed by Vocalis Chamber Choir. An a cappella choral piece (SATB) that imagines sunrise on the first Christmas Day. Available from Swirly Music: https://www.swirlymusic.org/music/choral-music/caroline-mallonee-o-gift-of-glorious-sunrise-for-satb-choir/
I Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail is a setting of an anonymous seventeenth-century riddle poem. At first, it seems not to make sense: How can a comet drop down hail? How can a house be as big as the moon? Closer reading illuminates the poem’s secret – the poem must be read with a break in the middle of each line. This choral piece presents the poem as one first reads it, with magical and fantastical images, and links the end of each line with the following line, making clear the meaning of the poem.
Saw a Peacock with a Fiery Tail is a setting of an anonymous seventeenth-century riddle poem. At first, it seems not to make sense: How can a comet drop down hail? How can a house be as big as the moon? Closer reading illuminates the poem’s secret – the poem must be read with a break in the middle of each line. This choral piece presents the poem as one first reads it, with magical and fantastical images, and links the end of each line with the following line, making clear the meaning of the poem.
