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Wedge (1961)
| composer |
Roger Reynolds (b. 1934) |
| performers |
ONCE Chamber Ensemble:
Karen (Hill) Reynolds, flute, piccolo
Francea Whitcomb, flute, piccolo
Barney Pearson, trumpet
Ron Bell, trumpet
Don Green, trombone
Paul Young, trombone
Stanley Towers, tuba
Robert Pozar, percussion
David Maves, percussion
Gordon Mumma, percussion
Bob James, piano
Daniel Levine, double bass
David Sutherland, conductor |
| affiliation |
BMI |
| label |
New World Records 80567http://www.newworldrecords.org
|
| duration |
08:07 |
Leta E. Miller:
"Reynolds's Wedge [is a study] in metric, timbral, and textural contrasts. Reynolds deals with two layers of sound moving at different speeds and densities, one mostly winds, ... the other percussion ... At two points the layers coincide, delineating a three-section form ... Out of the two instrumental clusters, soloists at times emerge in concerto style: the middle section, for example, features virtuosic cadenzas for piano, vibraphone, flute, trumpet, trombone, and percussion."
Roger Reynolds:
"The intent of this music is to create a situation in which time moves at different rates and with different sorts of momentum simultaneously ... Such proportionality provided also the basis for constructing forms which had a meta-contrapuntal nature: an interplay of musics, not simply of motives or lines. One can feel, I believe, the motivating force of this metaphor of multiplicity in the passion that the musicians bring to their performance.
"The two superimposed layers, with their subsections, offer a landscape of opportunity, and I responded by describing in words the musical behaviors which were to be created within each proportioned subsection: 'Ostinato groups, varying lengths and speeds,' 'Evenly changing chords (all voices simultaneous),' and so on."
Roger Reynolds' (b. 1934) compositional output ranges from instrumental and vocal music to multimedia works integrating computers, video, dance, and theater. His music is influenced by American experimental composers Charles Ives, Edgard Varèse, and John Cage, the music of the Second Viennese School, and a wide variety of literature and art. Spatial elements play a significant role in Reynolds' compositions, from works written for specific buildings such as Kenzo Tange's Olympic Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan to those featuring computer sound spatialization such as WATERSHED, a 1998 DVD recording which explores the possibilities of Dolby Digital 5.1-channel sound.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Reynolds studied with Kenneth Aiken at Wayne State University and Ross Lee Finney, Roberto Gerhard, and Paul Cooper at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he obtained degrees in engineering and music. He was a co-founder of the ONCE Festivals in Ann Arbor in 1961 and the Cross Talk Concert Series and Intermedia Festival in Tokyo in 1967-1969, during which time he was a fellow at the Institute of Current World Affairs. Since then Reynolds has taught at the University of California, San Diego, where he founded the Center for Music Experiment in 1972. He has also worked extensively at Stanford University's CCRMA (Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics). Visiting professorships include the University of Illinois, Yale University, Amherst College, and City University of New York.
Reynolds' music has been performed by ensembles and at festivals worldwide. Recipient in 1989 of the Pulitzer Prize for his work for string orchestra Whispers Out of Time (1988), he has received commissions from the Ford, Fromm, Koussevitzky, and Suntory Hall Foundations, the Los Angeles and Philadelphia Orchestras, Library of Congress, Lincoln Center, BBC, British Arts Council, Radio France, and IRCAM. He has written four books, the most recent of which is Form and Method: Composing Music (2002), a detailed treatment of his compositional approach. Reynolds' music is recorded on the Auvidis/Montaigne, Bridge, CRI, GM, Gramavision, Lovely Music, Mode, Neuma, New World, and Wergo labels.
related websites
http://www.rogerreynolds.com
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