Javier Garavaglia
viola and composer
assisted by:
Susan Fancher, saxophone
Guest Artist Recital
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
7:30 pm
Recital Hall, School of Music
Program
Ableitungen des Konzepts der Wiederholung (for Ala) (2003-04) Javier Garavaglia
viola and computer
Javier Garavaglia, viola
Overture (in memorium T.A.T.) (1997) Javier Garavaglia
Quadraphonic digital media
Where Does Love Go? (2004) Mark Engebretson
viola and live electronics
Javier Garavaglia, viola
Intermission
Hoquetus (2005) Javier Garavaglia
saxophone and computer
Susan Fancher, saxophone
NINTH (music for viola and computer) (2002) Javier Garavaglia
viola and computer
Javier Garavaglia, viola
_____
The hall is equipped with a listening assistance system.
Patrons needing such assistance should contact an usher in the lobby.
Notes
Ableitungen des Konzepts der Wiederholung (for Ala)
(2003/4)
for Viola and MAXMSP
Duration: 16:27
The title in German refers to the way I wanted to explore the concept of repetition. Repetitions are
to be found everywhere in our lives: from our habits, to our biological cycles; every life is a
repetition of others with variations. And exactly this is what I am trying to explore with this piece:
how can a repetition not be considered as such, when the variation degree makes it appear under
a very different light. Is repetition equal repetition?
Music is indeed a type of art that very well suits to explore this item, by either extending the
concept of repetition or simply expressing the same idea all the time, as much of the commercial
music nowadays does. Loops can be always the repetition of the same sample in music
electronics, but the way a composer can work with a loop can vary enormously, to the point that
the repetition itself disappears, loosing its essential being.
Mathematical relationships, as well as electronic procedures that already work with the principle
of repetition are here further material that the composition uses to explore this concept. The name
on the dedication is the nickname of the woman who inspired this work.
Overture (in memoriam T.A.T.)
for quadraphonic tape
(1997)
Duration: 10:30
This piece was composed (like its sister piece T.A.T. [a man’s life]) to the memory of my viola
professor Tomás Alejandro Tichauer, who died in December 1994 at the age of 50 because of a
heart attack.
Because the viola was almost a part of him, I chose the note ”c” (the basic tone of the viola) to
organize the pitch-system that rules the whole work. This was thought as if there were for this
pitch two different overtones series: one positive (the real overtones), representing the presence
of life and one negative or abstract (the inversion of the overtone series), which we normally don’t
realize as such, representing the absence of life (his not being there any more).
Numerical connotations in relationship with his name and his birthday serve to organize
algorithmically the rhythms and also the pitches.
The materials used come from different sources but are all based on the note ”c”. There are
concrete sounds, for example: 2 pizzicatti and one sul ponticello sound from the viola, one
clarinet C and the first C major chord of the Overture from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von
Nürnberg. On the other side there are synthesized sounds, most of them treated with granular
synthesis. The ”C major chord” was transposed using a Phase Vocoder about 8 times up and 8
times down, following the order of the harmonics of the note C, in the positive (higher) and the
negative (lower) way mentioned above. The equipment used for this piece (produced at the ICEM
at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen - Germany) was Protools 4.0, Csound, Audiosculpt and
Soundhack. Some passages were algorithmic composed using Commonmusic (Lisp).
The piece has been released twice on CD:
CD: “kontinuum…bruchlos- DeGeM CD 7,” edited 2003 by Cybele (Germany) and DeGeM
(Germany). CD n°: 960.207 – 2003 / LC 3738, DDD. Code: 8 09548 00832 and 4 040961
000837.
CD: “EX MACHINA – Volume 6 – the nineties,” edited 2001 by Cybele (Germany) and the
Folkwang Hochschule Essen (Germany). CD n°: 960.106 – 2001 / LC 3738, DDD. Code: 4
040961 000707. Volume 6 also is available in a box (deluxe Edition) with Volumes 4 & 5 under
the same numbers.
Where Does Love Go?
2004
for viola and live electronics
5:30
The composition of the Where Does Love Go? (2004) is a story of multiple connections, and a
search for the creation of meaningful sounds in a context where so much is possible. The poem
Conservation of Energy was written by Dana Richardson--a friend, composer and poet. I decided
to set the text for solo soprano voice for a mutual friend, Lorena Guillén, who was present at a
reading Dana gave of his poems. Later, it occurred to me that the vocal composition would make
a good instrumental piece with electronics, so when the idea came to make a piece for violist
Javier Garavaglia, I decided to use it, changing it in some small ways to be better suited to the
viola. Searching for ways to integrate many threads, I took advantage of a visit Lorena made to
UNCG (where I am on the faculty) to record her singing a portion of the song I wrote for her. I
then recorded a reading of the entire poem by Susan Fancher, a saxophonist and my main
partner in crime. I went on to process these vocal sounds in many ways, creating a sonic
backdrop for the solo viola line. Live signal processing specified in the score is used in
performance to create further integration between the viola and the prerecorded electronic
component. These effects are controlled by a real person, who varies the effects
improvisationally, following the soloist's performance. The multiple-channel stereo aspect of the
piece (6 channels) is embedded into the composition of the piece, rather than being diffused to
the various speakers live and on the fly.
Below is the poem that forms the background of the Where Does Love Go?.
Conservation of Energy
Where does love go
when love is gone?
Does the exploded sun
forever glow
through further reaches
of galactic space,
its light crashing on beaches
of unknown planets
as it congeals to ice,
invisible
in endless night,
fragmented, desolate,
jagged, small?
Does a fallen tear
fall as snow
on some Himalayan slope,
drip from a pear,
or is it squeezed
as the bitter hope
of limes that lie
on tropical beaches
shriveling in despair?
Does the heartbeat stilled
pound out the years
with the music of the spheres,
thunder on the field
before the rain,
or crash on the sand,
curling without end,
again and again?
Where does love go
when love is gone?
It goes to the acorn in the sun.
It goes to the cardinal and the crow.
Dana Richardson, 2000
Reprinted by permission of the author.
Hoquetus
for Tárogató (or Saxophone) and multitrack live electronics
(2005) (dedicated to Esther Lamneck)
Duration: ca. 15 min.
The piece was commissioned by Prof. Esther Lamneck (NYU), who also premiered it at the 14th
Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival (April 2005).
Basically, the work tries to recreate in a different context the medieval technique of the Hocket.
Being this technique polyphonic, the Tárogató part delivers a sort of “hiccup” technique with itself
by the use of different registers. Moreover, the computer makes a Hocket-like response to the
Tárogató at certain moments. The effect of this technique is amplified by the multi-track
electronics. Other DSP processes like convolution, granular synthesis and Phase Vocoding
reinforce the electronics throughout the piece. The whole electronic is computer generated in real
time (MAXMSP) and no pre-recorded materials are used throughout the performance.
NINTH (music for viola & computer)
(2002)
for Viola and MAXMSP
Genre: Interactive Music (real time processed live-electronics)
Duration: 12 minutes
The materials (sounds, rhythms and pitches) are taken from Bruckner's ninth Symphony in D
minor (third movement - Adagio). The composition for the viola part was worked with advanced
techniques and mostly all the pitches are played as flageolet (natural harmonics) sounds.
The computer part (programmed with MAX - MSP) has several instruments (patches), going from
filtering, to Sample & Hold (triggered by the amplitude of the input from the viola), to convolution,
dynamic delays or AM (all interacting with each other). There are two samples stored in the
computer, which are originally taken from the F# dominant chord on bar 17 of the general score of
the Symphony, which interact with the viola and the patches. They were previously modified with
Phase Vocoding (time stretching treatment) and slightly varying in the pitch.
The form of the piece, like Bruckner's Adagio, is in an ABAB like-form with a Coda. The title
"Ninth" recalls not only Bruckner's Symphony, but also the initial interval of its third movement (a
minor ninth).
Performers
Javier Alejandro Garavaglia (b. 1960) is a composer and
viola player born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is Course
Leader of the BA Sound and Media and Senior Lecturer in
Music Technology at the London Metropolitan University
(UK).
Garavaglia’s works have been performed extensively in
Europe, the Americas and Asia. His compositions include
works for solo instruments, chamber music, ensembles and
large orchestra, mostly including electronic media like multi-track tape and live-electronics. Some
of his electroacoustic works can be found on CD releases (Cybele, Germany; Electronic Music
Foundation, USA; and the Universidad Nacional de Lanús, Argentina ).
He studied composition at the Universidad Catolica Argentina (Buenos Aires, Argentina) and
undertook postgraduate studies in composition and electronic composition under the supervision
of Professor Nicolaus A. Huber (1990-1992) and Prof. Dirk Reith (1990-1995) at the Folkwang
Hochschule in Essen, Germany.
From 1997- 2003, Garavaglia lectured at the ICEM (Folkwang-Hochschule, Essen, Germany) and
since 1999 he is the Associate Director of the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival (University of
Florida, Gainesville). Currently, he is a member of the board of the GNMR (Gesellschaft fuer
neue Musik Ruhr) in Germany. He had the primary responsibility for developing the academic
structure for the BA Sound and Media (London Metropolitan University), as well as for the design
and equipment of seven studios for the course. The BA is entering its second year of life in the
academic year 2006-07.
Susan Fancher
From the press....
"Susan Fancher proved that she has completely mastered her
instrument...Breathtaking."--Steve Bergeron, La Tribune, Sherbrooke,
Quebec, April 29, 2002.
"Susan Fancher shaped all of the works with her characteristic
perfection and ability, filling even the most complex notation with life."--
Christian Heindl, Wiener Zeitung, February 21, 1995
"Impressive from the very beginning was American Susan Fancher
with her soprano saxophone...With superb technique Susan magically
produced the high notes making it look easy as could be and later in
several supberb solos...Susan let us understand that here was an extraordinary talent."--Göran
Mattsson, Götlands Allehanda, November 20, 1991
“With a warm, clear tone, Fancher stretches rhythmic motifs with the skill of best jazz players.”—
Karen Moorman, Classical Voice of North Carolina, September 12, 2006
“Ms. Fancher is to be applauded not only for her outstanding playing, but also for her involvement
in transcribing or commissioning virtually all of the works on this recording. Thanks to her insight
and Steve Reich’s approval, saxophonists finally have a work by one of 20th century's most
revolutionary composers.” --Anthony Balester
Mark Engebretson
Melody...complexity…virtuosity for both the players and the
composer…interactivity…multi-dimensionality…electronic and
acoustic instruments…
Lived in Minneapolis, Bordeaux, Chicago, Stockholm, Vienna,
Chicago, Buffalo, Gainesville, Greensboro…concerts at ICMC,
SCI, CMS, Bowling Green Festival, Wien Modern, Gaida Festival
(Vilnius, Lithuania), Ny Musikk (Bergen, Norway), Indiana State
University New Music Festival (Terre Haute, Indiana), FEMF
(Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival) and ISCM Festivals
(Tirana, Albania and Baku, Azerbaijan), Carnegie Hall…
Taught at Eastman, University of Florida, SUNY
Fredonia…Studied at Northwestern University (D.M.), University of Minnesota, Conservatoire de
Bordeaux...Composition teachers: Michel Fuste-Lambezat, M. William Karlins, Pauline Oliveros,
Marta Ptaszynska, Michael Pisaro, Stephen Syverud and Jay Alan Yim…Saxophone teachers:
Ruben Haugen, Frederick L. Hemke, Jean-Marie Londeix…currently on the faculty at the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro…
