New Commission!
The McKim Fund of the Library of Congress has commissioned a piece for violin and piano to be premiered at the Library of Congress on December 11, 2008. Titled Tower of the Eight Winds, it was inspired by the tower of that name that stands near the Acropolis in Greece. Originally a water clock on the inside, the octagonal building had sundials visible from any direction. And, it was deocrated with a frieze, displaying one of the eight winds on each panel. The relation to time and temporal flow seemed particularly apt for a piece commissioned in honor of Elliott Carter's centennail birthday. My piece is in four movements, each playing with a different sense of flow.
Recent CD!
North/South Records has just released Spin (fl, cl, bssn, vln, vla, vc) on Reflections, Music for Mixed Ensembles by American Composers, (N/S R 1046). Commissioned by the Chamber Music and Composer Conference of the East at Bennington, Spin is a short, snappy piece that plays with the meaning of the word "spin" at both the macro and micro level. I'm delighted by the fine performance on this recording!
New Projects!
Rotunda: One day, while sitting in my office, facing Jefferson's Rotunda, I had the idea that this view of the Rotunda, with the myriad changes of the weather and of activities on the Lawn, would make a fascinating film. I contacted fillmmaker Robert Arnold, who is based at Boston University, and whom I had met at Bellagio the previous summer. He specializes in films that often have fascinating timelapse elements. We decided to collaborate on a film whose images are drawn from a years' worth of digital images collected during the 2006 calendar year. I am creating the music from recordings I made of the resonance of the Dome Room, of people speaking about the Rotunda, and of field recordings made in the area of the Rotunda and Lawn at the University of Virginia. I have captured all kinds of sounds, ranging from a huge thunder storm to children playing to a full spectrum of life on the Lawn! Sponsored by the University of Virginia's Office of Development, we expect to complete the fixed media version of the film in late fall of 2007. I've already gone through more than half of the 300,000+ images with Bob, and in September, 2007, we worked closely on the overall structure, playing with issues of speed and flow.
Songs of War and Peace: I composed Songs of War and Peace (SATB + piano), a setting of four powerful Israeli poems in translation by outstanding American poets in 1998. All of the poems were drawn from the book After the First Rain (Dryad Press), and they speak to the ongoing pain of war (And How My Brother Is Cain; Call War Off the Land); of hope for peace (The Rain is Ready to Fall); and of peace (Peace is a Sea). They were premiered by the Virginia Consort, conducted by Judith Gary, and have been performed by a number of choruses, including the New Amsterdam Singers, conducted by Clara Longstreth. Now, conductor Michele Edwards, of the Minnesota Center Chorale, has commissioned a version for SATB + orchestra, to be premiered in May, 2008. I look forward to the power and choral that an orchestral version will offer.
Glyph: I have been commissioned by F. Gerard Errante to create a new version of Glyph, for clarinet, string quartet and piano. The original is for viola, string quartet and piano, and I've created this new version for Gerry. I have already composed several pieces for him (Sea of Reeds, Penelope's Song in a version fo clarinet and electronics, and Cherry Blossom and a Wrapped Thing, my first piece for eight-channel audio, though also available in stereo). There is something special about creating multiple pieces for one player whose playing you get to know so well. The Norfolk Consort will premiere this version of Glyph at the Chandler Pavilion in Norfolk, VA on February 11, 2008.
During the summer of 2007, I taught on Semester-at-Sea, traveling down the Pacific coast of Central and South America, as far as Chile, before turning back up and eventually landing back in San Diego. While on board the ship, I taught two courses: Music Theory with a Latin American twist; and a Sounscape Composition (Intro to Computers and Music) course, with pieces made from sounds recorded on board the ship and at ports of call. It promises to be a wonderful adventure! For more about this exciting trip, visit Semester-at-Sea (www.semesteratsea.com/voyages.html) .
© Copyright 2008 Judith Shatin
