| $12.61
new to stock as of
february 11th, 2009
threads:
modern-composition
|
| | experimental intermedia (usa) #xi 114 cd
xi records (usa) #xi 114 cdmary ellen childs “kilter” compact disc - four of one another (11:27)
- parterre (14:35)
- the capacity of calm endurance (12:05)
- whistling in the dark (9:35)
- kilter (9:12)
- night (3:49)
| | experimental intermedia press release... |
| mary ellen childs
kilter
when i'm asked, as a composer, to describe what i do, i usually say that my work follows two parallel tracks: instrumental music and visual-musical pieces. the second category is harder to define (it includes pieces for crash cymbal players on roller stools, pieces with lighting design, videowall pieces) but, ironically, it's easier to talk about. i can talk about the visual component, my un-composer-like working methods, the uniqueness of the forms. but it's the first category that comprises this collection.
musical language is abstract. that's one of the reasons i was drawn to it as a means of expression. which means that it's not easy to talk about my instrumental pieces. what do i say? they are conceived in abstract terms and constructed in musical thought. i can't say what they are "about." there are no stories, no literal themes.
there are no complex musical structures or procedure sense of balance, my own internal logic. i proceed from moment to moment asking myself "what seems to want to happen next?" "what next?" following my musical logic at any given ahead and making the details fit some overall scheme.
i use no unusual notation. there are no unusual working processes, though i have developed relationships with nearly all the musicians for whom i write. the capacity of calm endurance was written for anthony de mare four of one of another for the kronos quartet, and parterre for relache. i knew all of these musicians before i wrote pieces for them. guy klucevsek, for instance, i've been writing for and having dinner with for the last ten years. i'm convinced that something of my knowledge of someone finds its way into a piece, though i couldn't tell you what or exactly how that happens.
and so, in the spirit of kilter, that word that is used only in the pi its opposite, i'll let this no-description be a description of sorts, an telling you what i'm not, what my music is not, i've given you some information about both of us. the rest, i hope, is contained in those instrumental abstractions, and one song, that make up this collection.
- mary ellen childs |
|
|
|