In 2001 I made an unforgettable visit to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy, where I was awestruck by the mosaics excavated from Pompeii. In an up-close examination of works like the two-story-high Battle of Issus, I was amazed at how an image of such complexity, such dimension, such realism, could be constructed out of tiny, uniform cubes of stone called "tesserae." That very musical Greek word suggested a piece of orchestral music in which large-scale phrases, or images, are formed from the interaction of small homogeneous cells. I sketched out a series of sections in which individual musical pitches, like tesserae in a mosaic, are systematically added to, and removed from, the overall texture. With TesseraeI intended, as I had done with the Naples mosaics, to explore where the individual tesserae end and the epic image begins.
GENTRIFY
for amplified string quartet with delay
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composed for The Section Quartet: Eric Gorfain and Daphne Chen, violins; Leah Katz, viola; Richard Dodd, cello
duration: 7 minutes
Gentrify was composed in 2004 for the Los Angeles-based Section String Quartet, a unique crossover group who perform arrangements of songs by cutting-edge rock acts such as Radiohead and Tool. In style and conception Gentrify was composed to fit into, and expand, this format. The work takes advantage of the quartet's penchant for amplification by processing the sound via a digital delay, requiring the group to, literally, play along with itself in a strict canon. The form, texture, and timbres of Gentrify are the result of a meditation on urban construction and destruction, specifically the kind involved in gentrification.
DELPHINA
for violin and pre-recorded CD
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Prelude and Processional
Recessional
duration: 4 minutes
Delphina is the music written for the composer's wedding to Donna Eshelman and is lovingly dedicated to her. The pre-recorded CD consists of chimes and voices floating free-time for the Prelude and Processional. The solo violin plays its material at its own pace, while in the Recessional it presents a light, unaccompanied dance.
PRAYER OF THE HELIOTROPE
for two percussion
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Commissioned by percussionists Aaron Smith and Ken McGrath
Premiered February 2, 2003 at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
"...the heliotrope follows in its movement the movement of the sun...and in its rotation, if we could hear the sound of the air buffeted by its movement, we should be aware that it is a hymn to its king, such as it is within the power of a plant to sing." -Proclus, Greek philosopher
KATABASIS
for chamber orchestra
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Composed in fulfillment of the Master of Arts Degree in Composition, University of California, Los Angeles. Ian Krouse, commitee chair Premiered by the Westwood Chamber Orchestra, Elizabeth Wright conducting, on May 11, 1995 at UCLA.
"The mark of Descent, whether undertaken consciously or unconsciously, is a newly arrived-at lowliness, associated with water and soul, as height is associated with spirit...The lowliness happens particularly to men who are initially high, lucky, elevated...What is proper next for the man is the whirlpool, the sinking through the floor, the Drop, what the ancient Greeks called "katabasis." -Robert Bly, Iron John
BADDERPUTTLE
ballet score for 10 players In five scenes
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Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli composed music for six advertisement spots for several judicial and law enforcement campaign races in...let's just call it a "red state." Producing and directing the spots was the composer's oft-collaborator J.T.S. Moore, director of Revolution OS and Shooting Creek.
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Concert Works
