Composer Anthony Cornicello

A follow-up (Post-Electronic)

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 03:00:00 +0000

So, in my last blog, I revealed that I'm moving away from electro-acoustic music, and I'm quite happy about the decision. What, then comes next?
I do need to preface the next part of this monologue: I actually like a lot of electro-acoustic music. I'm still enamored by lots of Manoury's music, and find that Répons (Boulez) is one of the most intriguing pieces of the later 20th century. I've just lost patience with my own production efforts.

Charles Baker mentioned that Paul Lansky is also taking a similar route, moving towards acoustic works. And, it has been noted that the late Gérard Grisey had done that quite some time ago. Actually, a lot of composers have done so! But, all of them have take different routes, depending on their relationship to the medium.

There are a lot of composers who wrote a few electronic pieces and then returned to their other work. Jacob Druckman and Ron Perera certainly fall into this category. For them, having created a significant contribution to the field (Druckman's Animus series of works, and Perera's textbook) seemed to, for the most part, quench their thirst for electronic timbres. The bulk of their work since then has been largely unaffected by their work in the studio. [Druckman's Valentine, which is a masterful of timbres and effects for solo bass, was written during the same time as the Animus pieces, exhibit an influence of electronic music, but the same cannot be said of the works of the 1970s.]

Then there is the case of Charles Wuorinen, who has produced two significant electronic works during his prolific career (Time's Encomium and the tape part to Bamboula Squared). In both works Charles viewed these as extensions of his own compositional practices rather than forays into new timbral horizons, although both pieces make use of some fantastic antiphonal effects. The tape part for Bamboula Squared is now in a 4-track version (I actually re-synthesized it in csound).

I don't see myself as going on either of these routes. What has always attracted me to electronic music was the new timbres, the spatial aspect, the bending of acoustical principles. Grisey (and others) discovered how to accomplish all of that without electronics. Listen to his Partiels, and you'll know what I'm talking about. There are long passages where the timbres are comprised of multiple extended instruments, and you'll swear that there is a tape part for the work. Okay, he 'cheats' by using an accordion (which has such an unusual color) and a Hammond organ, but still...

So, the big question: where to go next? Incorporate or reject?

Why I'm not writing Electro-Acoustic pieces (for now)

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 03:34:00 +0000

I'm quite happy to be writing music again these days. It's been a while, and it after a few false starts, I was able to produce the Concerto for Four, written for the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra. The piece will be performed in April, 2017, and I'm exhilarated.

Part of the reason of my joy was the ease of it all. You see, for the last number of years, I've been writing electro-acoustic pieces. That meant that a considerable amount of my compositional time would be dedicated to creating an Max patch: deciding upon the effects to be utilized, integrating them all into a single patch, tinkering with the settings until the results were to my liking. That last step was where I spend most of my time, often up to the dress rehearsal.

But for this piece, I finished my composing, edited the score and parts, and I was done. There was a bit of unease - shouldn't I be doing something right now? Isn't there something I should be worrying about?

Now, this is where it gets interesting. You see, the Concerto for Four will be performed in April, and hopefully afterwards as well. I may make some changes after the first performance, and that information will be entered into the Sibelius files. As with any composition, someone will request the score and parts, and they'll be printed out and sent off to wherever the performers are. I don't have to really do anything to the parts.

And here's why I'm backing away from Max pieces. When I get a request for an older Max piece, I most likely have to recompile the software. The OS changes frequently, which means that some features don't function any longer. And, since Max itself has changed, I now have to update a number of drivers and objects. Sometimes, I have to substitute new objects for old, discontinued objects, which means that I now have to re-write a number of settings. Hence, I'm back to tinkering - on a 'old' piece.

This is where it gets frustrating. You see, if someone asks me for, say, my Improvisations for Alto Flute, I'm quite confident that the Alto Flute has not changed much since I wrote the piece in the late 1980s. And, if it has changed (instruments are always being modified), the new flute would incorporate all the features of the old flute. That is, the 'new' alto flute would be able to play more (not less!) than the 'old' alto flute. In other words, I'd send off my piece to the flute player and it would be performed.

In short, the electro-acoustic pieces are never really 'finished'. There is always some work to be done, and it turns into an awful cycle. At least that has been my experience. For now, I'm going unplugged.

Boulez Remains

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 02:27:00 +0000

As I write this, Pierre Boulez turns 90. The enfante terrible of new music is now the grand old figure. It's startling to realize that, of course, both for ourselves as well as for history itself. Not only has Boulez changed, aged, and matured, but so have we. There are many that will declare him out-dated,a remnant of earlier times. He is, after all, the sole significant survivor of the Darmstadt generation.

For too many of us, we first encounter Boulez as the creator of dense serial works such as the massive Structures, which is often quoted in music theory texts. It is, after all, a total serial work, and the opening of Book 1 is fairly easy to analyze from that perspective. Most students then proceed to "le marteau sans maître, which is notoriously difficult to analyze. And, that's where way too many students stop.

For me, there are two works (I'll qualify that shortly) that continue to astound me. First, there is Éclat/Multiples, in particular, the Éclat section of the work. I first came across it as an undergraduate, and was immediately transfixed. The opening piano cadenza is a tour-de-force, yet this is not a piano concerto as the pianist eventually settles into the role of another member of the ensemble. But what follows is even more breath-taking: the passages at the center of the work when Boulez seems to stop time. Thus, we get a journey from the volcanic opening to the ever-still center, which eventually builds back up to the more strident Multiples portion of the work.

In 1972, Boulez was asked by Tempo magazine to contribute to their issue memorializing Stravinsky. His submission was essentially a construction kit given the title explosante-fixe. At the time, it may have been perceived as a toss-off; why couldn't Boulez write a little piece like others had done? Yet, from so many accounts, this little set of instructions has provided the basis for most of Boulez' output from that time forward. From the fragments here, he was able to construct works like Messagesquisse, both Dérvies, Répons, Anthèmes 1 & 2, and, of course, the full version of ...explosante-fixe.... And, this is really what amazes me about Boulez: his ability to extend material, to develop large amounts of music from tiny ideas, and to do so with clarity and cohesiveness. One can also see this in the orchestral Notations, which are expansions of early piano works of the same name written 40 years prior. The piano works are miniatures, fleeting images, many lasting under a minute. Their orchestral counterparts are greatly expanded versions of these pieces, yet the relationships between the two are apparent on a casual listening. It's as if Boulez took his concept of chord multiplication and brought it forth on to the largest scales of a work. For me, that is the Boulez we should be praising.

This year, Pierre Boulez turns 90. The enfante terrible of new music is now the grand old figure.

Older pieces on DAT

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 22:56:00 +0000

While preparing for my on-air interview this week, I realized that a LOT of my older pieces (from the 80s and 90s) are still on DAT. It was a decent format, but it's kind of annoying. For one thing, you need to constantly clean the heads of the DAT player, or else you get no sound. I don't mean that the sound is bad, I'm talking about dead silence.

And, that's where I'm at now: waiting for the head cleaner to arrive. DAT head cleaners are also annoying, since you can only use then a set number of times.

So, my goal is to get these early pieces off the DAT, and then not use the DAT player again...

On-air interview this week!

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:46:00 +0000

On Wednesday (8/3), I'll be interviewed on WHUS from 2-3 PM. I'm not sure what direction the interview will take, but I will discuss the recording I'm working on.

Those of you in CT can listen at 91.7 FM, and the rest of you can hear it streaming at www.whus.org.. I'll see if there will be an archived version of the show.

More info to follow!

Rewriting...

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:38:00 +0000

Last post, I mentioned that was starting a new piece. I neglected to mention that I was also rewriting an older piece.

Okay, it's not that old- it is from 2009. I'm revising Mirrors from my "Interactive Piano" series. That piece was originally written for the Yamaha Disklavier, and now I'm reworking it for acoustic piano and Max/MSP, for Keith Kirchoff. At first, I thought it would be a simple revision.

Well, I've got a good pitch-to-MIDI converter, so that is not a big problem. Mirrors is based on the idea that e pianist plays a note, and Max processes it, usually returning a few notes. Sometimes Max plays a few notes, sometimes runs. A lot of it is based on analysis of incoming data.

Well, it has gotten complicated. Some of the patches that worked well with pure MIDI data don't work well here, so I'm rewriting those. I've got to rework the random generators as well.

Recently, it occurred to me that since I'm not trying to have Max play notes on a keyboard, I can make use of microtones. And that has opened up a whole new world.

To do: devise new sounds. Right now, I'm using a generic Karplus-Strong module to make struck string sounds, like a piano. That will come later, I think.

And to think - I haven't even tinkered with any of the notes yet!

Starting a new piece

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:06:00 +0000

Sometimes, I just hate starting a new piece.

For me, every piece evolves differently. Some pieces come out quickly, others gestate for a long time. I often write in spurts: bursts of activity followed by quieter periods. I'm okay with that.

But starting a piece is always difficult! There is always this time where the new piece is this amorphous blob, and I'm not able to bring it into focus. And that's where I'm at right now.

The piece in question is a new piece for piano, percussion, and electronics. Okay, I've written for those instruments before, in many different contexts. I've even written a piece for piano, percussion, and electronics, back in the 1980s. Serigraphs was written in 1986, and played at a new music festival at the time. There were some live electronics (programmed by Charlie Baker, since those were the days long before Max), and some tape as well.

Ever since then, I've wanted to write another piece for the combination. Heck, I've wanted to do that since I first heard Kontakte!

And, here I am, starting it. So far, I have a general outline, and am starting to jot down ideas. And, I'm starting to toy with Max objects. Writing for Max is a lot like writing for percussion: there are an endless supply of objects and techniques, so it can be daunting.

I'm sure this anxiety will pass in a week or so...

On composer bios

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:20:00 +0000

You know, Kyle Gann is right: too many composer bios read like a resume. Recently, I was at a concert in Hartford, and, amongst other pieces, saw a piece by an unknown composer. Without getting into specifics, the composer's bio was simply a list of his accomplishments. Mind you, some of these accomplishments were things of which anyone would be proud. But, three paragraphs of this was just overkill. And, some of the listings were a bit dubious.
But, that's besides the point. I had hoped to learn something about the composer. Does he play an instrument? Where was he born? Did he study with a well-known composer? These kind of things can be clues to a composer's temperament. Saying that he (or she) is a percussionist, for instance, who studied with James Woods (not the actor!), would certainly say a great deal about the composer. Looking at that, I might expect a composer who explores unconventional rhythms and textures. Hearing that the composer is from NY might set up a different set of expectations than if she is from LA or Tokyo. Of course, any artist my defy those expectations, but this kind of information would put them in some sort of context.

More to the point, these kind of bios don't give us an idea of what the composer's interests are. Is he interested in jazz? Does she incorporate her love of the majestic organ? This is the first paragraph of my bio:

Composer Anthony Cornicello (born in Brooklyn, New York, 1964) writes music that blurs distinctions between performers and electronics, timbre and harmony, composition and improvisation, and explores the boundaries of what may be considered post-classical concert music. His music is vibrant and visceral, full of rhythmic energy and harmonic sophistication, and his forays into live electronics have led to exciting combinations of instruments and processed sound. Cornicello’s background as a jazz pianist is evident not only in the rhythmic activity of his music, but also in his constant investigation of the rich sonorities available from a variety of instruments.

Admittedly, I'm a little biased. But, I'd hope that this bio would give the reader a sense of my music, and pique their curiosity enough to actually listen to the music! After all, I'm trying to 'sell' my music, not my bio.

And, in case the reader is interested, the 'resume' stuff comes later in the bio statement.

Electric Mahabharata

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Sat, 28 May 2011 02:50:00 +0000

As I'm typing this, I'm sending out the files, to CF Peters, for my piece "I'll Have an Electric Mahabharata, Please." Yes, the piece with the truly wonky title is getting published by CF Peters. I know I announced this on Facebook a month or so ago, but now I'm delivering the goods.

Okay, this is a work for cello and electronics. You can hear it here - scroll down, and there's a link to the MP3 (and a PDF, which I'll need to remove soon). All the electronics are real-time processing of the cello, and some of the sounds are quite elaborate. The piece is normally done with a 4-channel sound system, so the sound swirls around the audience.

The title - comes from the idea that I had to turn the cello into a sitar. Well, not literally. If you look at a sitar, it has 6 (or 7) playable strings, and then around 15 sympathetic strings that give it its characteristic ringing sound. I took the idea of the sympathetic strings and made that the basis for the electronic part. I constructed a few virtual resonant strings and placed them in the electronic 'environment'; as the cellist plays, the sound is routed through those strings and a bunch of other effects. There's even a computer 'cadenza', where one pluck is answered by hundreds of plucks generated by the computer.

Here's the only dilemma I have with the piece: I'm only able to produce a Mac OS version of the software. Since I created it in 2003, it looks like some of the components are obsolete or were never transferred to the Windows version of Max. I'm hoping to construct a Windows version, but I don't know how much time it will take - or if I'll eventually get it to work....

Dead gear

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:52:00 +0000

Hmm, my Tascam US-428 seems to have died.

It lights up. It controls MIDI gear with no problem. My MacBook Pro recognizes it, as do many programs (Logic, Live). Yet, I get no audio. I've tried headphones and speakers, all to no avail. I loaded in new drivers, and went through a variety of settings.

I've even tried running audio into it directly (from my Clavinova), also with no results. I think the audio card on it must be dead.

Tascam says the model is discontinued, and replaced with the US-144mkII. Okay, that's a nice device, but it's hardly a replacement. The US-428 has 8 faders, which makes it look more like a mixer. The US-144mkII has 4 inputs (like the 428) but two dials control the input volumes. And, it looks like you switch between "Line In" (guitar/keyboard - 1/4" jack) and XLR input. So really, it appears to be a two channel input. It's pretty cheap (Sweetwater has it listed at $149), but nowhere nearly as cool as the 428.

Oh well.

Recording "Spiral Jetty"

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Sat, 21 May 2011 15:53:00 +0000

This week, the members of "ModernWorks" (Madeleine Shapiro, Airi Yoshioka, and Bill Schimmel) assembled in the Louis Brown Recording Studio to record my piece Spiral Jetty. They were the group that commissioned it (through funds from Meet the Composer) back in 2006, and they've performed it at a number of concerts. The recording was a natural part of the whole growth cycle of the work.

Now, here's the strange part. Spiral Jetty also has an interactive electronic component - 4 channels of live processed sound. But, we didn't record that material on Thursday - it actually won't be added in to the final project for some time. Really, for the first time, I heard the whole piece without the electronics. (Yes, every rehearsal I've been to has been with electronics; I guess there were moments where we worked without the electronics, but that was rare.)

That's a photo of the studio - it's a nice warm setting. And, incredibly quiet, given that it's in the middle of Manhattan! Airi is on violin in front, and you see Bill behind the glass. The accordion can be a loud instrument, so it had to be isolated. Hopefully, Bill didn't feel self-conscious! Lou is adjusting a microphone, and you can see Madeleine's cello.

Recording is an odd process. A rock group can record an entire album and not be in the studio at the same time. You really can't do that with this kind of music. Instead, they recorded segments - 10-20 measures at a time, often with multiple takes. My job is going to be to patch this all together to form a composite 'performance' of the piece. There are a few passages that are going to require major surgery, but there's quite a bit where I can use larger chunks.

That's another shot in the studio. See, Madeleine was there, not just her cello!

More on this later.

Blog shift

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Cornicello) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:53:00 +0000

I'm moving my blog, from Sequenza21 to my own independent location. I certainly enjoyed my time there. Actually, my impetus for the move came from the move away from FTP blogging by Blogger. It doesn't appear that I'll be able to migrate my old blog away from the Sequenza21 site, so I just decided to start a new one.

And, I'm hoping to find a balance between blogging, Facebook, and Twitter. I haven't Twitted that much - it's really for short messages, along the lines of "Wow it's hot out." Facebook is good for a variety of medium-length posts. I tend to rant on about politics or the Mets there. I'm hoping that here, I'll write more about music than anything else. Some posts will be short, others won't.

Thinking about the old blog, I don't think there's a way for me to leave a forwarding address. I can't write "We've moved to ____; please visit our other locations at ____. Thank you for your business." - you know, those signs you see when a store is hoping to retain you as a customer. Then again, I'm not exactly a regular poster, so like those stores with seemingly random hours (and I've seen them!), if you knew I was there, you'll follow me here....

While I'm at it: I've been reading a bit more these days: Zen in the Art of Archery and I'm still working on Neuromancer. That, and writing a piece for the Ondes Martenot, but I'll leave that for another post.