Concert I: Jonty Harrison

Friday 5th May. 19:30

• Jonty Harrison, Going Places, 2015, 32.0, 59:55

Going Places, 2015, 32.0, 59:55

• Commission: Pierre Alexandre Tremblay, Electric Spring, HuddersfieldContemporary Music Festival

• Premiere: November 25th, 2015, hcmf// 2015:16. Jonty Harrison,Phipps Concert Hall - Creative Arts Building - University of Hudders-field (Huddersfield, England, UK)

To Ali, Clare, and EmmaOne day, nearly 25 years ago, when I was recording a journey on the Lon-

don Underground, a lost overseas visitor asked me directions: that incidentgave me the idea for a piece based on the broad theme of travel, and thesense of disorientation, even alienation, it can engender. My habit of alwayscarrying sound recording equipment started in the early 1990s when I becameinterested in capturing everyday sonic events that somehow indicated theirgeographical location.

I have amassed quite a sound library over the past 25 years, but onlystarted to investigate these materials methodically in 2014, with three re-lated works: Hidden Vistas - a 20-channel gallery piece, premiered atthe Ikon Gallery in Birmingham (England, UK); Espaces caches - a 30-channel concert work, premiered at the Klang! electroacoustique 2014 festivalin Montpellier (France); and Secret Horizons - a 14-channel installationwork, composed for Birmingham Sculpture Trail and premiered at the RBSAGallery in Birmingham.

My approach in these three works was to ‘present’ the material, but in away that, given the geographical disparity of some of the concurrently sound-ing materials, would be impossible in ‘real life’: we cannot, physically, be intwo places at once, but it is entirely possible in the aural domain, especially ifrecognition and personal memory are evoked and involved. Presenting theseworks using large loudspeaker arrays, often in different rooms or areas of asingle room, aided the illusion I was trying to create.

I felt, however, that I wanted to subject this material to a more ‘in-depth’acousmatic investigation, so was delighted when Pierre Alexandre Tremblay,one of my former PhD students at the University of Birmingham (England,UK) and now Professor of Music at the University of Huddersfield (England,

1

UK), asked me to compose a 60-minute multichannel work when I retired -it was the perfect opportunity.

A ‘rough guide’

I thought it might be useful to offer some ‘signposts’ (this is a project abouttravel, after all!) - not to tell you what you ‘should’ be hearing, but sim-ply to enhance and complement your listening experience (and to give yousomething else to do if you get bored!). The musical moments or ‘scenes’(some clearly delineated, others overlapping) are all completely artificiallyconstructed. Some border on reportage or documentary; others are morefanciful but they all have their origins in specific locations. Telling you whatand where these locations might be does not, I hope, detract from the auralexperience.

We begin and end in Italy, my second home. Between these scenes -one implying imminent motion, the other more restful and tranquil - we fliterratically and unpredictably between other locations in Europe, Iceland,Australia, North America, North Africa and parts of Asia, and the means oftravel (trains, cars, planes, ships, etc) are lurking almost throughout. Butthe logic of the narrative (if there is one) does not lie in the geographicalconnections or distances but in the sonic journey: the relationships and con-trasts - spectral, rhythmic and spatial - that I had enormous pleasure indiscovering within this huge range of material. I hope you enjoy the ride.

1. Railway stations in Florence, Pisa, Rome, and Castelfiorentino (Italy)

2. Crickets on the Great Ocean Road, Victoria (Australia), plus eventsfrom the Red Centre and Queensland (Australia)

3. Buskers and bustle in Jemaa el-Fnaa, Marrakech (Morocco)

4. On the SkyRail, passing over birds in the tropical canopy, in Queens-land (Australia)

5. Wind, tourists, krıa (Arctic terns) and other birds on Snæfellsnes (Ice-land)

6. Subterranean glacial stream and ice melt in a cave on the Solheimajokullglacier (Iceland), plus resonating cables from the Hellissandur radiomast on Snæfellsnes (Iceland)

7. Idling steam locomotive and on board the Kuranda Scenic Railway inQueensland (Australia)

2

8. Geothermal pools at Seltun (Iceland), and Rotorua (New Zealand)

9. Near and far: distant railroad horns in wintry Ohio (USA) with aclose-up of track sounds from the UK and South Australia

10. Circular Quay, with buskers, ferries and trains, framed by the oceanliner Queen Mary 2 leaving port, in Sydney (Australia)

11. Floating quays strain at their moorings near Sydney Opera House (Aus-tralia)

12. Underwater echoes of the quays, plus barnacles in Sydney Harbour(Australia), near the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland (Australia) andoff Corfu (Greece)

13. Street demonstration in Montpellier (France)

14. Harbours, boats and swifts in Corfu and Poros (Greece)

15. More boats straining at their moorings, this time at the yacht club inBoston (Massachusetts, USA)

16. Insects, frogs and monkeys in the equatorial rainforest in Bako NationalPark in Borneo (Malaysia)

17. Pipes and drums: ghaitas (double reed instruments) in Marrakech (Mo-rocco), piccolo bands parading during the Basler Fasnacht (Carnival ofBasel) (Switzerland), bagpipers (yes, really!) in Morelia (Mexico) anda religious procession with firecrackers in Thailand counterpoint coinsbeing placed in offerings bowls in the Wat Pho (the Temple of theReclining Buddha) in Bangkok (Thailand)

18. Wheels on the rails resonate through the washroom sink on a UK train,plus friction squeaks from Eurotunnel train carriages

19. Call and response: calls to prayer in Istanbul (Turkey) and Marrakech(Morocco - complete with nesting storks clattering their beaks) fusewith the voices of singers on gondolas in Venice (Italy) and marketcallers in Melbourne (Australia)

20. In transit: announcements in airports - in Bangkok (Thailand), Bris-bane (Australia), Helsinki (Finland), and Dubai (United Arab Emi-rates), plus my homage to Bernard Parmegiani with his indicatifused between 1971 and 2005 at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (France)and on planes, trains, and boats, including a vaporetto in Venice (Italy)

3

extent in fugal textures. In the case of Imago timbre is equivalent to themelodic line in a contrapuntal work. There are five independent ‘klangfar-benmelodie lines’ heard throughout which are highly fluid. The languidlyundulating high frequency pulsations heard in the middle section coalesceinto bell tones for instance. I have attempted to employ imitation and topreserve the integrity of each timbral line to invest the whole with internalconsistency.

Spatialisation is accomplished by separating the audio into frequencyzones. This produces a new improvisatory dimension since the projectionof the material into space and subsequent motion actually generates newtimbral lines as a consequence of the segregation of the audio stream.

Finally as a spiritual artist I also want my creations to reflect the ImagoDei (God Image). I believe that there is a lineage descending from Godthrough to the artist and his work. Compositions in any medium reflect thehuman image in a manner equivalent to the way in which the human reflectsthe Imago Dei. The process of transformation into the Image of Christ causesthe artists work to reflect the Divine essence more vividly. In this sense thetitle is a reference to my foundational creative principle.Ishmael Beckford-Tongs: I am currently pursuing an MA in Electronicand Computer music having spent several years studying Jazz and Electroa-coustic Music. My fascination with timbre led me to focus on Electroacousticmusic. Much of my research revolves around the spectral characteristics ofsound which has led to me exploring the prosodic features of poetry from amusicological perspective.

20

texture of the background noise. My objective was to create a cohesive pieceof music featuring different sections by utilising a range of electroacoustictechniques and hardware such as synthesizers, samplers, granulators as wellas time stretching, arranging and cutting sounds with built in effects fromAdobe Audition. In the past I have always begun my compositions with anextra-musical concept, therefore this is a new and creative approach for meas I was intrigued by the walrus recording whilst searching for samples onthe Macaulay Library Catalogue.Albrecht Lange is a former student of the BA English and Music pro-gramme at University of Leeds. He is now pursuing a masters degree inCanada.

Charlotte Bickley, DK/LOB, stereo, 10:30

A performance of the Qawwali Research Unit’s I will go with the Yogi at theHuddersfield Electric Spring 2016 festival provided conceptual inspiration forDK/LOB. This audiovisual composition takes a recording of a performanceby Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and uses it as a structural and musical founda-tion; merging new, electroacoustic aspects with the original recording. I haveemulated and developed this framework in DK/LOB, where all the sonic ma-terial is derived from two recordings of a Hindustani Classical piece, RagaDarbari Kanada. In contrast to I will go with the Yogi, and other notablecompositions based on recordings of Hindustani music (such as HildegardWesterkamp’s Into India), DK/LOB makes no attempt to preserve the mu-sical or structural elements from the original recordings - in fact, variousprocessing techniques are employed to disintegrate the samples into obscu-rity. The piece is far removed from traditions of Hindustani Classical music,and instead uses the samples as a foundation for sonic exploration, distortingand subverting them to create a varied, dense, noisy soundscape, in a stylewhich emulates the diverse soundworlds created by Tim Hecker on Virgins.Charlotte Bickley is a former student of the BA English and Music pro-gramme at University of Leeds.

Ishmael Beckford-Tongs, Imago, 8.0, 3:00

Imago emerged from a single rhythmic motif derived from a self- oscillatingfilter. This cell permeates the composition insofar as the entire piece iscreated centrifugally with rhythmic spectral and melodic elements emergingfrom it.

The linear development of the whole is loosely based on the contractionand dilation of time I have observed in free jazz improvisation and to an

19

21. An insect chorus at dusk on the night of a lunar eclipse in the tropicalrainforest in Queensland (Australia) merging into pedestrian signalsat intersections and ships’ bells at the Museum of Old and New Art(MONA) in Hobart (Tasmania, Australia); brief appearances from atrain bell in Oakland (California, USA) and trams and crossing signalsin Melbourne (Australia)

22. Bells from Chartres (France), Venice (Italy), Berlin (Germany) andCorfu (Greece), plus the clock in Montaione (Tuscany, Italy)

23. Notturno

Going / Places , a 32-channel work, was realized in 2015 at the com-poser’s studio in Birmingham (England, UK) and premiered on Novem-ber 25th, 2015 during the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in thePhipps Concert Hall of the University of Huddersfield (England, UK). Thanksgo to a large number of people and organisations for their contributions tothis work and their assistance in its creation:

• The Leverhulme Foundation for a 12-month Leverhulme Emeritus Fel-lowship allowing the field recording trips to Australia and Iceland, andthe development of multichannel signal processing software;

• The National Lottery via Arts Council England for a Grants for theArts award for the period of composition;

• Pierre Alexandre Tremblay for inviting me to compose on this scale;

• James Carpenter andChris Tarren for their programming expertisein developing signal processing tools for the work; these have beenincorporated into BEASTtools, a suite of Max/MSP patches;

• Alex Harker and University of Huddersfield postgraduates for settingup the Huddersfield Immersive Sound System (HISS) for me to hearbefore setting about the piece in earnest;

• Lisa Whistlecroft and Steve Benner for sharing their knowledge ofplaces to record interesting sounds in Iceland and for accompanying uson the trip;

• David Hirst for the use of his house at the eastern end of the GreatOcean Road and for extensive advice and information about recordinglocations in Australia;

4

• Elainie Lillios (and Michael Thompson) for hosting me during theKlingler ElectroAcoustic Residency (KEAR) at Bowling Green StateUniversity (Ohio, USA);

• The unknown overseas visitor in the London Underground nearly 25years ago;

• ...and finally as ever thanks to my wife Alison Warne for keeping memore or less sane during the composition of the work, and for helpingme carry all the recording gear to far-flung corners of the world: Icouldnt have done it without her.

Jonty Harrison (born 1952) studied at the University of York (DPhil inComposition, 1980). Between 1976 and 1980 he worked at the National The-atre and City University, London. In 1980 he joined the Music Departmentof the University of Birmingham, where he was Professor of Compositionand Electroacoustic Music and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studiosand BEAST; he is now Emeritus Professor. He has won several internationalprizes (Bourges, Ars Electronica, Musica Nova, Destellos) and been com-missioned by leading organisations and performers. His music appears onthree solo albums (empreintes DIGITALes, Montreal) and on several com-pilations (NMC; Mnemosyne Musique Media; CDCM/Centaur; Asphodel;Clarinet Classics, FMR, Edition RZ and EMF). http://www.electrocd.com/en/bio/harrison_jo/

5

worldly environment of the music underneath his narration. The pitch of hisvoice is modulated and repeated: digitally mimicking the consequences ofplaying old and worn records that skip.Edward Wilson-Stephens: I have entered into postgraduate education atthe School of Music, University of Leeds, in the hope of expanding my elec-tronic explorations, so that I can begin to compose and perform dynamicelectronic music that moves away from grid-based structures and set tem-pos. I am currently releasing music on the Leeds-based record label DigitalDistortions under the pseudonym of CCH Poundr, as well as collaboratingwith artists who work with music for film and television. My main interestswithin electronic music include the use of cracked media, heavy use of effectsprocessors commonly associated with dub music, and modular and closed-system synthesis: preferring to utilise equipment that does not depend oncomputers for operation. My main influences include artists such as AndyStott, Rhythm and Sound, Nils Frahm and Throbbing Gristle.

Ewan Stefani, Nıtjan, 8.0, 8:00

Based on studio recordings of 19-division trumpet, Nıtjan (‘nineteen’) ex-plores the spatialisation of improvisations by the composer and Stephen Al-toft recorded between 2011 and 2014. Musical themes include spectral dis-sonance, pitch-textures and boundaries between noise and microtonal pitch.Designed for 8-channel spatialisation, oscillating panning techniques are usedthroughout the piece to separate distinct lines within textures and create spa-tial ostinato patterns.Ewan Stefani (b. 1971) lectures in music technology, computer music andelectroacoustic composition at the University of Leeds. As an acousmaticcomposer, his works have been performed on BBC Radio 3, and at vari-ous international sonic arts and computer music conferences. His articles onelectroacoustic composition have been published in ICMC conference pro-ceedings and Organised Sound journal. Current research interests include:acousmatic music, free improvisation, multi-channel sound theatre, and syn-thesizer performance practice.

Albrecht Lange, Chuckchi, 8.0, 5:30

Chuckchi explores the possibilities of manipulating a single audio source,using various electroacoustic methodologies. The chosen sound source is a 1minute and 29 second field recording of a walrus from the Macaulay LibraryCatalogue. I was attracted to this sample due to its low fidelity sound quality,the percussive sounds from the walrus, the tones of the water and the rough

18

sound materials for An Introduction to..., where a sense of a virtual ‘acoustic’performance - the pipes distributed across an ensemble of players surroundingthe audience - was created by arranging the recordings in time and spacewhile avoiding any other sonic manipulation.Jake Randell is a postgraduate music student at the University of Leedswith a focus on experimental composition. In 2008, after writing a seriesof solo piano works as part of a conference at the United Nations Office inGeneva, he became determined to pursue a career as a composer. Duringhis undergraduate studies, his work CANVAS WALK received a public per-formance by the soprano Juliet Fraser at The Hepworth Wakefield gallery.His new work Coma was performed by the School of Music’s (University ofLeeds) new music ensemble, LSTwo, as part of their annual concert in April2017.

Edward Wilson-Stephens, Snap Crackle and Not, stereo,

4:00

This piece of electronic music is a condensed adventure through cracked me-dia composition and sound design. The media and medium of vinyl play-back is explored. In particular, the relationship between the speed of thevinyl crackles found at the centre of eight randomly-picked vinyl records andthe speed of the record player revolution is considered. Utilising an old andslightly broken record player produced interesting results in this relationship,in terms of indeterminate pitch and speed. The speed of the record playerrevolution was discovered through the skipping of the stylus after each fullcycle.

Vinyl crackles have been mixed into electronic music: particularly in dubelectronica, dubstep and dub techno music. They can create a tense anduncertain atmosphere within a musical soundscape. Utilising the content ofthe worn and overplayed vinyl records that was not intended to be enjoyedby the listener creates a culture of recycling, where the adjoined intendedmusical content would be otherwise unplayable. Therefore, the better vinylrecords for use within this practice are those which would otherwise have beenignored: perhaps deemed too noisy and likely to skip. Other sounds wereincorporated which mimicked the scratchy and motorized noises inherent invinyl media and in the electronic record player medium.

The main vocal is sampled from an old second-hand vinyl ‘The AncientVoices of Papua & New Guinea’, released on Australia’s Festival Records inthe 1950s. Narrator Mr P. N. Cochrane’s explanation of the use of woodenmaterials by the indigenous members of the tribes accompanies the other-

17

Concert II: USSS and friends

Saturday 6th May. 13:00

• Adrian Moore, Metricity, 2017, 7.1, 11:15

• Alejandro Albornoz, The Light, 2017, 8.0, 10:00

• Steven Naylor, Automatopoiea: Study 1, 2006, 8.0, 9:34

• James Surgenor, shift, 2014, stereo, 12:04

• Vanessa Sorce-Levesque, An Almost Abstract Experience, 2016, 5.1,11:11

• Adam Stanovic, Escapade, 2010, stereo, 9:46

Adrian Moore, Metricity, 2017, 7.1, 11:15

Metricity is a concert piece that marries an investigation into pulse andrepetition (meter and rhythm at times) - Metric, with a fascination for cre-ating sonic environments (that are often busy, bustling and energetic) - City.Rhythms were found within manipulated soundfiles and constructed, usingsamplers playing very small sounds. This purposeful investigation took ina wide range of music influences (Ake Parmerud from the electroacousticrepertoire and numerous commercial artists from EDM to Dubstep). It alsoincorporated a number of techniques not normally used in electroacousticmusic (sidechain compression, use of ‘snap to grid’, bass drops and filtersweeps). These techniques led to my discovery of sound ‘icons’ - sounds (andtechniques) that define a genre but defy cliche. Metricity led to questionsconcerning the accumulation and repetition of small sounds, sonic densitywithin a multi-channel space, and the nature of embodiment within a sonicenvironment. Metricity was composed between May 2016 and January 2017in the composer’s private studio and at the electroacoustic music studiosof Bowling Green State University, generously supported by the KlinglerElectroacoustic Residency (KEAR). My sincere thanks to Joe Klingler andElainie Lillios for enabling the residency.Adrian Moore is a composer of electroacoustic music. He mainly composesmusic intended for ‘sound diffusion’ over multiple loudspeaker systems. Hedirects the University of Sheffield Sound Studios (USSS) where researchersand composers collaborate on new musical projects. Adrian Moore’s researchinterests are focused towards the development of the acousmatic traditionin electroacoustic music, the performance of electroacoustic music, signal

6

processing, and human-computer interaction in music. His music has beencommissioned by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM), the InstituteInternational de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges (IMEB) and the ArtsCouncil of England. A significant proportion of his music is available on 4discs, ‘Traces’, ‘Reve de l’aube’, ‘Contrechamps’ and ‘Sequences et Tropes’on the empreintes DIGITALes label. His book ‘Sonic Art: An Introductionto Electroacoustic Music Composition’ is published by Routledge.

Alejandro Albornoz, “The Light”, 2017, 8.0, 10:00

Voice: Natalie Verhaegen.This is the fourth section of the octophonic cycle “La Lumiere Artifi-

cielle”, and corresponds to the third language used of three: French, Spanishand English. In an interview of 1919, the Chilean avant-garde poet VicenteHuidobro, talked about a new project: “The creationist and simultaneistpoem La Lumiere artificielle, for three voices on gramophone with new pro-cedures (...)”(1). This plan was never done. In the future, the poet wouldcreate works with sound as central axis and in Spanish and French, becom-ing an important reference for sound poetry in the Spanish speaking world.This is a work in progress, a cycle inspired by Huidobro’s statement and theidea of voices in a fixed media, dealing with these issues: languages, abstractsounds by voice, new and old technologies.

(1) Huidobro, 1919, cited in Garcıa-Huidobro, 2012: 34: Garcıa-Hudobro,Cecilia. A la interperie (entrevistas 1915-1946). Santiago de Chile: Ed.Ocho Libros, 2012Alejandro Albornoz. With a previous education in visual arts, he studiedelectroacoustic composition with Rodrigo Sigal and Federico Schumacher andworks on acousmatic and live electronics since 2004. His music has been per-formed in several festivals like Synthese (Bourges), JIEM (Madrid), BIMESP(Sao Paulo), Sonoimagenes (Buenos Aires), Sound Junction (Sheffield) andthe Semaine Internationale de la Musique Electroacoustique (Lille). He isan active member of the Electroacoustic Music Community of Chile and ofthe Latinamerican Sound Art Network. Usually he composes for performingarts. He has been producer of several concerts, meetings and publications,highlighting the Festival of Electroacoustic Music of Chile “Ai-maako” andcollections of Chilean electroacoustic music. He currently is a PhD researcheron Electroacoustic Composition in the Department of Music at the Universityof Sheffield, under the supervision of Adam Stanovic and Adrian Moore. Thecentral topics in his research are the human voice and poetry in acousmaticmusic.

7

On taking early retirement from the University of York in 1996, he washonoured by the University with a lifetime Emeritus Readership. [Source:Wikipedia]

Albrecht Lange, Fulcrum, 8.0, 7:40

Fulcrum explores the correlation between free form music and repetitiverhythms. I was inspired to pursue this project after reading As Serious AsYour Life by Valerie Wilmer, a book about the evolution of Free Jazz. I wasintrigued by the musical vocabulary of improvising musicians, in particularthe rhythmic diversity. At the time I was also listening to a lot of Krautrockbands and the music of Laddio Bollocko, which features repetitive rhythmsand melodies. Can drummer Jaki Liebzeit, and Blake Flemming are captivat-ing drummers to study due to their large dynamic spectrum and mechanicalapproach on rhythm. Being fascinated by both free music and the repetitiverhythms of the two drummers, I decided to incorporate a few elements ofthese genres into my electroacoustic composition.

The piece contains five distinct sections: a calm, but suspenseful introduc-tion which establishes a repetitive rhythm (Section 1), followed by a darkersegment where the rhythm is much more free form, with repetitive rhythmsappearing occasionally (Section 2). Section 3 introduces rhythmic materialonce more: a heavily filtered and distorted drum pattern with the additionof a water recording. Section 4 is focused around a rhythmic pattern, withthe pitch and the tempo alternating as the section progresses. Section 5 isthe quietest part of the piece and features a repetitive bass rumble and asynthesizer with a filter that fluctuates rhythmically. The piece concludeswith a simple and familiar rhythmic pattern.Albrecht Lange is a former student of the BA English and Music pro-gramme at University of Leeds. He is now pursuing a masters degree inCanada.

Jake Randell, An Introduction to the Organ Pipe En-

semble, 8.0, 8:40

This piece was Jake Randell’s first exploration of how a dismantled pipeorgan may be repurposed as a new instrument or collection of instruments.He recorded a large collection of organ pipes individually inside a Wesleyanchapel in Whitby, North Yorkshire, exploring the sonic capabilities of eachtype of pipe (bourdon pipes, principal rank pipes, reed pipes and others)using a variety of performance techniques. These recordings were then used as

16

book happened to be an encyclopaedia volume covering the alphabetic rangeof topics from SHO to ZYG, which is where the instrument’s unusual namecomes from.) These objects were played in an improvised manner, with thefingers, or with the aid of implements such as small screwdrivers, toothpicks,etc. The tiny sounds, which would otherwise be too quiet to hear, were am-plified via contact microphones, creating a bizarre but strangely engrossingmicroscopic sound-world not unlike that heard in John Cage’s Cartridge Mu-sic (1960). (Along with Stockhausen, Cage was also acknowledged by Daviesas an influence.)

Davies in fact built two Shozygs in 1968: Shozyg I, comprising the objectsjust described; and Shozyg II, similar in principle, but comprising a differentset of amplified objects: two springs, a rubber band, and a set of guitarmachine heads. This piece - Shozyg I & II - is a recording of an improvisedduet involving those two instruments, one played by Davies himself, the otherby his friend and collaborator Richard Orton (1940-2013). James Mooney.Hugh Davies (1943-2005) was a composer, instrument inventor, performerand writer on music. After reading music at Oxford University (1961-4) heworked with Stockhausen between 1964 and 1966; in the following year hebecame director of the electronic music studio at Goldsmiths College, Lon-don, later becoming its research consultant (1986-91). From 1999 he was apart-time researcher in sonic art at the Centre for Electronic Arts, MiddlesexUniversity. Starting in 1968 he was active in a number of groups specializingin improvisation and the realization of indeterminate scores. From 1967 hedevised and constructed over 120 instruments, sound sculptures, sound in-stallations and musical toys, many of which incorporate found objects andcast-off materials. He composed for conventional forces, tape, live electronicsand his own instruments, including several music theatre works, and devisedenvironmental music projects and documented unusual sound environments.[Source: Grove Music Online]Richard Orton (1940-2013) was a composer, performer and music educator.In 1968 he co-founded the electronic music ensemble Gentle Fire along withHugh Davies. Orton worked at the Department of Music at the Universityof York from 1967 to 1996. He established the University’s Electronic MusicStudio (EMS) in 1968, the first in a university in the North of England. Hewas a co-founder of the Composer’s Desktop Project, which placed affordablesound technologies on the individual composer’s desk. In the early 1980s,with his colleague Ross Kirk from the Department of Electronics at York, hestarted work on the concept of Music Technology as an academic discipline.This led to the establishment of the world’s first postgraduate course inMusic Technology in 1986. In 1992 he began working on his algorithmiccomposition language, Tabula Vigilans, designed for real-time performance.

15

Steven Naylor, Automatopoiea: Study 1, 2006, 8.0, 9:34

Automatopoiea is a series of studies based on the sounds of mechanical toys,or automata, built by the late Tony Mann, an innovative designer-makerbased in Devon, UK. Mann’s clever, kinetic pieces incorporated cast-off me-chanical and electro-mechanical materials, chosen from a vast aggregationthat spilled beyond his studio and into a nearby barn. Though primarily avisual artist, he pursued sonic creativity with the same rigour - and original-ity - as an electroacoustic composer. His creations embodied careful listening,imaginative thinking, and a willingness to explore and invent. Each studyin this series focuses upon the sonic idiosyncrasies of several of Tony Mann’sautomata. The result ranges from the delicate highlighting of details to ram-pant commotion. Study 1 explores sounds produced by Aviator, CaptainWebb, and Ratchet-Bird.Steven Naylor composes electroacoustic and instrumental concert music,performs (piano, electronics, seljefløyte) in ensembles concerned with boththrough-composition and improvisation, and creates scores and sound de-signs for theatre, film, television and radio. His concert works have beenperformed and broadcast internationally; his theatre scores have played tolive audiences of over five million, in 15 countries. Steven co-founded NovaScotia’s Upstream Ensemble and The Oscillations Festival, and is a formerPresident of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community.

He is presently artistic director of subText Music & Media Arts, an in-dependent artist, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Music at AcadiaUniversity. His first solo DVD-A of electroacoustic works, Lieux imaginaires,was released in 2012 on empreintes DIGITALes, and nominated for a 2013East Coast Music Award. Steven completed the PhD in Musical Compo-sition at the University of Birmingham, UK, supervised by Jonty Harrison.He presently lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Further information:http://sonicart.ca

James Surgenor, shift, 2014, stereo, 12:04

shift explores the idea of sounds being living entities that have three primarylife-events: a birth, some sort of activity, and a death. Algorithmically creat-ing these entities in clusters at constantly shifting time intervals ultimatelyresulted in a piece that aims to shift the listening focus towards the resultantand entrancing soundworld.James Surgenor is a Northern Irish electroacoustic composer, program-mer and performer. Having completed an undergraduate degree at SARC(QUB), he went on to complete an MA in Sonic Arts at The University of

8

Sheffield, where he is currently a PhD researcher interested in electroacousticcomposition and software design. He is supported by a University of SheffieldFaculty of Arts and Humanities Scholarship award. When not writing musicor software, he can be found drinking coffee and watching science fiction filmsand television for inspiration.

Vanessa Sorce-Levesque, An Almost Abstract Experience, 2016,

5.1, 11:11

Finding balance and focusing on the very limit between what holds us to-gether and what tips us over: this may well be how music comes to be.Where this piece abounds with surreal worlds inspired by the deepest invis-ible energy streams, it is also made of very real, concrete sound sources. Byits fluid nature it therefore becomes an almost abstract experience. Com-posed at Visby Tonsattarcentrum, EMS in Stockholm and USSS Sheffield.UK premiere.Vanessa Sorce-Levesque With the many projects leading her to not bevery long in one place at a time, Vanessa has developed a sensitivity to themultiple environments and their complex, evolving realities. This has becomean important aspect of her composition and is therefore her main subject ofPhD research at Sheffield.

Adam Stanovic, Escapade, 2010, stereo, 9:46

Escapade was composed under the expert supervision of Professor DenisSmalley, during my time at City University, London. Following Denis’ ad-vice, the piece went on to receive First Prize in the Destellos Competition,Argentina, 2010. In the same year, it represented Great Britain at the In-ternational Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), and was a ‘top rated’work at the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC).Adam Stanovic composes electronic music. His works continue to be per-formed, published and prized around the world.

9

Concert IV: 3*3 Leeds

Sunday 7th May. 13:00

3x3 is a collaboration between the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York(the White Rose group of universities), showcasing electroacoustic music re-search and practice at those three institutions. Over the course of 18 months,there have been three specially curated concert programmes, one each cu-rated by Leeds, Sheffield and York. Each programme has been performedthree times - once in Leeds, once in Sheffield, once in York - resulting in 9concerts in total, hence 3x3. This concert, representing the third and finalprogramme in the series, is curated by Leeds, and completes the cycle of 9concerts. James Mooney, Leeds University.

• Hugh Davies, Shozyg I & II, 1968, stereo, 9:00

• Albrecht Lange, Fulcrum, 8.0, 7:40

• Jake Randell, An Introduction to the Organ Pipe Ensemble, 8.0, 8:40

• Edward Wilson-Stephens, Snap Crackle and Not, stereo, 4:00

Interval

• Ewan Stefani, Nıtjan, 8.0, 8:00

• Albrecht Lange, Chuckchi , 8.0, 5:30

• Charlotte Bickley, DK/LOB, stereo, 10:30

• Ishmael Beckford-Tongs, Imago, 8.0, 3:00

• Maeve Brayne, Olona, 8.0, 14:00

Hugh Davies, Shozyg I & II, 1968, stereo, 9:00

Recording of a performance by Hugh Davies and Richard Orton.Shozyg I & II was commissioned by the University of York Department

of Music. It was first performed on 6 March 1969, to mark the opening ofthe Lyons Concert Hall (York).

In 1968, inspired by his work as assistant to the avant-garde composerKarlheinz Stockhausen, Hugh Davies (1943-2005) built an idiosyncratic mu-sical instrument, which he called a ‘Shozyg’. This instrument comprised aselection of every-day objects - three fret-saw blades, a ball bearing, and aspring - mounted inside the covers of a book with its pages removed. (The

14

Professor of Music and Head of the Department of Music. He retired fromCity University in 2009, and is now Professor Emeritus. In 2013 he becamean Honorary Professor at the University of Kent.

Denis Smalley’s works have been widely acclaimed, winning a number ofinternational awards including the Prix Ars Electronica in 1988. In 2008 hewas awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Huddersfieldfor his achievements in electroacoustic music. He has made original contribu-tions to thinking about electroacoustic music, in particular his developmentof the notion of spectromorphology (the shaping of sound spectra throughtime). A book on his music and ideas was published by GRM/INA in thePolychrome Portraits series - in English in 2010, and in French in 2011 - andthere are associated on-line resources available athttp://www.institut-national-audiovisuel.fr/sites/ina/medias/

upload/grm/mini-sites/smalley/co/siteWeb_Smalley.html

13

Concert III: Denis Smalley

Saturday 6th May. 19:30

• Fabrezan Preludes, 2016, 8.0

– Portal, 4:50

– Debussy’s Cathedral, 7:10

• Spectral Lands, 2011, 6.0, 15:40

• Sommeil de Rameau, 2015, 8.0, 15:20

• Fabrezan Preludes

– The Voices of Circius, 8:50

There will be a very short break after Spectral Lands

Fabrezan Preludes, 2016

• Portal

• Debussy’s Cathedral

• The Voices of Circius

Commissioned by the School of Music and Fine Art, University of Kent,and first performed in the Colyer-Fergusson Hall, Canterbury, on May 21st,2016.

The three preludes were composed mainly in Fabrezan, a village in theCorbieres, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, where Denis Smal-ley and his partner live for part of the year.

The central prelude is based around the transformation and develop-ment of a pair of resonant chords taken from Debussy’s piano prelude Lacathedrale engloutie (the submerged cathedral), which evokes the storyof the mythical city of Ys, submerged off the coast of Brittany. Legend hasit that the city’s church bells can be heard in calm seas. Debussian intervalsand scale patterns provide the framework for my prelude rising, open fourthsand fifths, pentatonic allusions. The spaciousness of a cathedral nave is sug-gested through undulating, oscillating patterns and reflections, and wave-likesurges, embellished with more mobile bell partials.

In the opening prelude, Portal , the listener crosses over the thresholdinto the nave.

10

The Voices of Circius refers to the Roman god of the cers wind to whomthe Emperor Augustus dedicated an altar near Narbonne, in the Languedoc.The cers blows from the north-west, gathering force and circular motion asit is channelled through valley corridors, towards Narbonne and the Mediter-ranean. It can be impetuously violent, emerging suddenly, bending trees toits will, chasing away clouds, initiating luminous skies. Recognised as havinghealth-inducing properties, it can bring welcome cool breezes in the summerheat, but can be bitingly cold in winter. This prelude aims to capture aspectsof its “voices”.

Spectral Lands, 2011

Commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and theCentre for Research in New Music (CeReNeM) at the University of Hudder-sfield, and was given its first performance in the Huddersfield ContemporaryMusic Festival in November 2011.

The “spectral” of the title has two meanings. It refers both to the am-biguous, sometimes spirit-like auras of voices, birds and natural phenomenainhabiting an imagined landscape, and to the idea of “spectral space” - theimpression of space and spaciousness created by the placing and motion ofsonic materials within the audio spectrum. The textures of spectral space in-teract both with the dimensions and distances of spatial perspective, and withthe types of spaces evoked by voices, birdsong and environmental sounds, tocreate “lands” with distinctive spatial qualities.

In the back of my mind as I composed the piece lay the experience ofa recent visit to Golden Bay, in the north-west corner of the South Islandof New Zealand - the long coastal sweep, the sounds in the native bush,and the blurring of differentiation in certain lights and weathers betweenland, mountains, sea and skies. Particularly striking was the expansive,deserted beach at Wharariki, where winds blowing over the sand-drifts sooncover up any trace of human presence; enormous rocky outcrops loom outof sand and sea, and enclosed resonant caves contrast with the openness ofthe landscape. I was equally taken by landscape views in the Corbieres inthe south of France, where most of the piece was mixed. Amidst the sunnydays, there can be dramatic skies, swift-moving cloud strata, noisy gustsand flows of wind in the trees, and if the rain suddenly descends, vibranttextural energies. But Spectral Lands should not be considered a literal orspecific landscape portrait. The ambiguity of the sonic spectres is such thatsome listeners may construct their own images or narrative, while others mayprefer to respond to the musical discourse in a more abstract way.

11

Sommeil de Rameau, 2015

Commissioned by the Sonorities Festival, Belfast, and first performed at theSonic Arts Research Centre on April 25th, 2015.

Sommeil de Rameau was composed in homage to Jean-Philippe Rameau(1683-1764), whose music I have long loved and admired; 2014 was the 250thanniversary of his death. I have drawn on characteristics of the sleep scene inFrench Baroque stage works and cantatas, which first appeared in Les amantsmagnifiques (1670), a comedie-ballet by Moliere and Lully. It became morefirmly established as a result of the substantial scene in Lully’s tragedie enmusique Atys (1676), and many examples can be found during the followinghundred years, including Rameau’s music.

When a sleep scene is invoked, dramatic action is suspended as a maincharacter is exhorted to sleep. The music may be solely instrumental, or mayinvolve sung commentary, where, for example, the singers personify dreamedthoughts or suggest future courses of action. The musical style, with itsslowish harmonic motion, undulating or rocking contours, and airy instru-mentation (typically strings and flutes), is intended to create a contemplativeatmosphere and a sense of timelessness, drawing in both the sleeping charac-ter(s) and audience. Rameau’s sleep music, which is very inventive, adaptsthe Lullian characteristics in imaginative ways, but there can also be drift-ing, descending contours, sometimes adventurously chromatic, rather thanundulating motion.

Sommeil de Rameau is a contemplative journey based around recurringrefrain materials, contrasted with diversions into a series of episodes thatlengthen as the piece progresses. My starting point was a refrain motiveadapted from a pair of chords, rocking over a pedal note, which intervenesbetween the main phrases in the “sommeil” in Act IV of the tragedie enmusique Dardanus (1739). Passages derived from Rameau’s music permeatethe longer episodes, but these are recomposed and transformed, and are notexplicit references. Tonal intervals and harmony prevail, but are expandedthrough spectral “orchestration”, creating an electroacoustic “spectral tonal-ity”, as if Rameau in his (sometimes disturbed) dreaming were contemplatingan imagined musical future.Denis Smalley was born in New Zealand in 1946. He studied music atthe University of Canterbury and the Victoria University of Wellington priorto studying at the Paris Conservatoire with Olivier Messiaen, and with theGroupe de Recherches Musicales. He moved to England, completing a doc-torate in composition at the University of York. Until 1994 he was SeniorLecturer in Music and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studio at theUniversity of East Anglia. He then moved to City University, London, as

12