listen to complete piece

composer	"Blue" Gene Tyranny (b. 1945)
performers	"Blue" Gene Tyranny, electromagnetically-stimulated piano
affiliation	BMI
label	Lovely Music 1066http://www.lovely.com
duration	09:25

about the music

"Blue" Gene Tyranny:

"If you would, please imagine the sun gradually changing position on any day as it visually redefines through illumination and shadow the physically unchanged woods, hills, and man-made structures you know are there.

"Then imagine returning to your home town after many years and experiencing the slight shock as what you remember (for example, the faces of dear friends) contrasts with what is there now (he's really changed, but she looks exactly the same!).

"In the conceptual examples above, a fixed memory encounters an alternate perception ... That common experience is the basis for this piece.

"In the graphic score, notated on five open staves, isolated single notes and note aggregations are occasionally joined by dotted and solid lines suggesting directionality and connection. The tones may be played in any order, but the momentary gesture they form is repeated at least once. With each repetition (rescanning, reconsideration), there is an imaginary or auditory 'reference point' (e.g. a movable clef, or the drone heard in this performance) that is moved and causes one aspect of the gesture to change -- either the pitch, emphasis, speed, or timbre; but the rhythmic form of the gesture remains the same ('nothing's changed').

"Since 1961, I have had a similar same-thing-only-different relationship with this piece, and throughout the years have provided additional methods for realizing a performance from the score. There was an open version for chamber orchestra (1963), the premiere conducted by Bob James at one of the legendary ONCE Festivals in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with the interactions between the performers left free. In a realization for piano, marimba, and vibraphone (1991), the material was scanned in fixed impulses and translated into standard notation. The realization for electromagnetically-stimulated piano (1993) heard here employs feedback circuit devices, designed by composer David Meschter, that initiate subtle sustaining tones when placed on the strings."

about the composer		back to top

"Blue" Gene Tyranny (b. 1945) is active as a composer and performer of concert, dance, film/video, and theater music. Aleatoric and improvisational techniques figure significantly into his work, from live improvisations on piano and electronics to compositions such as The Driver's Son (1989-1996), an 'audio storyboard' for voice, orchestra, and interactive electronics.

Tyranny was born Robert Sheff in San Antonio, Texas, where he studied with pianists Meta Hertwig and Rodney Hoare and composers Otto Wick and Frank Hughes. In 1961 Sheff moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan and was active as a composer and performer with the ONCE Festivals of contemporary music. The following decade he toured with jazz and rock groups including the Carla Bley Band, Iggy Pop, and The Prime Movers Blues Band; during this period he adopted the stage name "Blue" Gene Tyranny. From 1971 to 1982 Tyranny taught at Mills College in Oakland, California, also working as a technician at its Center for Contemporary Music. He has lived in New York since 1983, and has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, as well as in Mexico and Brazil.

Tyranny has recorded and performed with Laurie Anderson, Robert Ashley, David Behrman, and John Cage, composed the harmonies and piano improvisations for Robert Ashley's opera for television Perfect Lives (1977-1983), and created over 40 soundtracks for film and video, collaborating with video artists Kenn Beckman and Kit Fitzgerald. His theater and dance collaborations include works with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Rocky Bornstein, Timothy Buckley, Creach/Koester Company, Pat Oleszko, Otrabanda Company, Talking Band, and Stefa Zawerucha. Tyranny has received awards from the New York Dance and Performance Awards ("Bessies") and New York Foundation for the Arts, and was artist-in-residence at Bucknell University in 1992. He has written several articles on contemporary music including the "20th Century Avant-Garde" section of the All Music Guide. His music can be found primarily on Lovely Music as well as the CRI and Nonesuch labels.

related websites
http://members.aol.com/bluegenet