Of Places Near & Far

Caroline Louise Miller: Ansible

Bahar Royaee: Kücha Lar

Robert Seaback: Mutation (as the mark that noise leaves upon presence)

Steve Ricks: Motor Culture

Paula Matthusen: within the social history of saltpeter

Of Places Near & Far is a study of location, interacting cultures, and the concept of home. At times sentimental, other times frenetic, always genuine, this electroacoustic program explores five unique voices as they each explore a specific location and space.

Caroline Louise Miller’s Ansible (which was commissioned by the Ensemble and made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program) is a multi-movement work inspired by the writings of Ursula Le Guin. Integrating field recordings and classic recordings from the early 20th century, the piece – like the novels – explore cultural anthropology and colonization.

Paula Matthusen’s within the social history of saltpeter explores unique sounds from within the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky: the composer and the ensemble spent a week together in Mammoth Cave National Park recording each cave’s unique resonances and natural frequencies. The work confronts the caves’ challenging history, and questions the very nature of exploration.

Bahar Royaee’s Kücha-Lar is a setting of an Iranian folk song which is heard in its original form by the piece’s end; the song is poignant, intimate, and paints a picture of Iranian life.

All of the music on this program was written for the SPLICE Ensemble; both the Matthusen and Ricks pieces will be premiered in Fall 2020.

The program is played in two halves with a short intermission and lasts roughly seventy-five minutes.