Fred Lerdahl's Complete String Quartets Performed in Boston

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 18, 2012, 2:06 p.m.

On October 18th, 2012, the Deadalus Quartet performs the complete String Quartet Cycle of Fred Lerdahl (Nos. 1, 2, & 3) at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, presented by Columbia University's Miller Theatre. This program is a touring composer portrait presented by the Miller Theatre, which presented the Deadalus Quartet performing Lerdahl's String Quartet No. 3 in 2010. Don't miss this concert!

Fred Lerdahl, who since 1991 has been the Fritz Reiner Professor of Music at Columbia University, began composing string quartets in 1978 with String Quartet No. 1, later returning to the form with his second quartet in 1982, and finally composing his latest quartet specifically for the Daedalus Quartet in 2008. Lerdahl writes,

"The Third Quartet is the finale of a large-scale work that begins with the First Quartet and continues with the Second. The First Quartet takes the form of 15 geometrically expanding variations, starting with a simple chord and elaborating gradually into a variation six minutes long. Its sequel, the Second Quartet, continues the expansion with two more variations of nine and 13 minutes. The Third Quartet constitutes in its entirety a last expanded variation. At the same time, it periodically interposes reminiscences from the two earlier quartets, progressing through the Second back to the First. The coda of Third Quartet comes full circle by stating in reverse order the brief opening variations of the First Quartet."

All three Quartets are available on a CD released by Bridge Records, performed by the Daedalus Quartet and released in 2008. Don't miss your chance to see these works performed live!

Announcing Two New PSNY Composers

by Ted Gordon on Sept. 27, 2012, 12:08 p.m.

We're back with some very exciting news-- did you miss us? Today, PSNY announces the publication of works by two new composers, Ann Cleare and Erin Gee!

Ann Cleare hails from county Offaly in Ireland, where she attained a B. Mus and M. Phil from University College Cork, and has been in America studying with Chaya Czernowin and Hans Tutschku at Harvard towards a PhD in Composition. (That is, of course, by way of the Akademie Schloss Solitude in 2007 and IRCAM from 2008 to 2009.) Ann's music for instruments and electronics is singularly powerful, and we're extremely honored to publish several of her works on PSNY, complimenting our growing catalogue of chamber and electro-acoustic compositions. 

For a taste of what Ann's music is like, here's a sample from her 2009 work, I am not a clockmaker either, for accordion and electronics. 

Ann gave a great interview with the Contemporary Music Centre in Ireland, talking about the work and its recording, made available through the CMC: 

Erin Gee is an American composer and vocalist who recieved her BA and MA in Music at the University of Iowa in 2002, where she studied with Réne Lecuona, Lawrence Fritts, and Jeremy Dale Roberts. From there, she went on to study with Chaya Czernowin, Beat Furrer, Richard Barrett, Steve Takasugi, and others in Germany and Austria, earning her PhD in Music Theory from the Universität für Musik in Graz, Austria in 2007. Like Ann, Erin also studied at the Akadmie Schloss Solitude, and like our composers Andrew Norman and Anthony Cheung, she recieved the Rome Prize, in 2007. 

But unlike any of our other composers, Erin writes music that has an incredibly unique sense of vocal performativity, even in her instrumental works. Listen to the vocal qualities of the wind instuments in her PSNY work, Mouthpiece: Segment of the 4th Letter:

We're extremely excited to have Erin join our roster of composers- in addition to Mouthpiece: Segment of the 4th Letter, be sure to listen to Mouthpiece VI, also newly available, and be on the lookout for more of her works soon!

Coming up in October: the Deadalus Quartet performs the complete string quartets of Fred Lerdahl, all available on PSNY, at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston! The JACK Quartet performs Alex Mincek's String Quartet No. 3 "lift-tilt-filter-split" on Sept. 30th at the Festival Music ain Strasbourg, France! And, last but not least, check out our other new works by PSNY composers: Adrian Knight's Bon Voyage, Chris Cerrone's The Night Mare, Alex Mincek's Flutter, Pierre Jalbert's Dual Velocity, and Hannah Lash's Three Movements for Horn Trio.

Also, if you haven't noticed yet, you can now subscribe to our PSNY blog via our new RSS Feed. Click on the RSS icon on the upper right corner of this page to subscribe!

Springtime for New Music

by Ted Gordon on March 13, 2012, 2:25 p.m.

A lot has happened at PSNY since we last brought you news of the first ever digital publication of Morton Subotnick's chamber music: we've added almost 20 new works by several of our composers, including Adrian Knight, Timothy Andres, Alex Mincek, Tobias Picker, Pierre Jalbert, and Fred Lerdahl. Here are some highlights from this recent round of additions:

Adrian Knight's "Daedaldualism," for electric guitar, synthesizer, and live electronics:

Like Subotnick, Knight writes much of his chamber music to include electronics, both fixed and live. We're especially exited to be able to publish his music through PSNY since it seems a perfect fit for music with electronics-- all patches and programs are downloadable, and we're more than happy to answer any questions about the technical requirements. 

Alex Mincek's "Karate", for two saxophones:

"Karate" is just one of several pieces Mincek has written for saxophone, an instrument with which he is intimately familiar. "Karate," in particular, bursts with virtuosic, competitive tension, as two saxophones are seemingly pitted against each other in battle. Strongly reminiscent of John Zorn's early "game pieces" in structure, as well as the wildly frenetic aesthetic of "For Alto"-era Anthony Braxton.

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