Compositions by Tim Polashek

`Compositions by Tim Polashek`

polashek@roar.music.columbia.edu

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PerformanceListings and Sample Recordings

You will need to download the RealPlayer (if you haven't already) to listen to the audio excerpts (this is a one time, easy process, and there are many other sites using RealAudio now). This compression scheme, sadly, greatly distorts the quality of the recordings, but it is the most efficient method for real-time playback on the internet. I have included some CD quality sound files on this page, but you will have to download the whole file and find an audio player that supports the AIFF format.

speakingsIII.mov

Speakings III: Headlines (2001)

Christopher Bailey and Marlon Feld, Vocalists

This a piece of text/sound poetry for two vocalists. Filmed live at Columbia University Philosophy Hall by Roseann M. Hara.

Speakings II: Kinetics (2000)

speakingsII.mp3

This a piece of text/sound poetry recorded for four speakers, but this is a stereo version of the original.

Trio for Viola and Violins (1996)

I. Largo: siesta 06m 28s

II. Andante: visiting St. Ubaldi. 10m 48s

Tom Chiu, violin; Daniel Auerbach, violin; Arman Alpyspaev, viola.

In 1993, I had the opportunity to participate in a music festival held in the small Italian medieval city of Gubbio. Although my knowledge of the Italian language was very incomplete, I was "adopted" by three Italian women who were also festival participants, one as violist and the other two as violinists. In gratitude for their hospitably and friendship, I wrote this trio for them.

Although the two movements are not necessarily programmatic, they do present some of my impressions of Gubbio. A siesta in Gubbio is a time to quietly relax (no practicing allowed!) in the middle of the afternoon. It is a peaceful time that lends itself for passive reflection and planning in the Mediterranean sun. St. Ubaldi is a nearby mountain that is fun to visit. One climbs the mountain by riding a ski lift that resembles a string of narrow bird cages. From the top, the view is amazing and there is restaurant that serves gigantic indigenous truffles. There are also many scenic walking trails to explore, and one even leads to St. Ubaldi lying in his glass casket in the center of his chapel.

Sonata (1995) dur. 11m 28s

Sonata (compressed Mono) Sonata. (compressed Stereo) Sonata Excerpt (AIFF, CD quality)

This composition for tape is a tribute to one of the most beautiful musical instrument, the Steinway Grand Piano. I find its vast array of tones and resonance to be an endless source of fascination and beauty, as well as a source of inspiration. All the sources for the tape were written and performed by the composer. These excerpts were subject to digital processing, primarily phase vocoding, and assembled to make the sonata.

Newtonian Phases: Suite for Violins (1997)

1. So Long, Hale-Bopp 03 m 44 s

2. The Moon 00 m 23 s

3. Sputnik 00 m 20 s

4. Fractals 00 m 59 s

5. Pluto 05 m 03 s

6. Mercury 04 m 33 s

Tom Chiu, violin; Daniel Auerbach, violin

A Wild Turkey Lands in the Crowded Forest and an Open Meadow (1997)

(non-revised edition) reading by Speculum Musicae dur. 05m 58s

A still life setting of experiences in Wisconsin woodlands, a sextet for flute, clarinet, viola, cello, piano, and marimba.

Pomp and Circumstance for Headphones and Sine Waves (1996)

dur. 03 m 42s

Here's my "Pomp and Circumstance" for Headphones and Sine Waves, which use some 3D sound and Doppler shift. I'm amazed that some 3D perception survived the RealAudio compression procedure.

This etude makes extensive use of algorithmic and stochastic procedures to generate contrasting motives varying in pitch, timbre, rhythmic organization, and spatial origin. If the listener is sitting in the "sweet spot" of the stereo image, the sounds will appear to originate from anywhere in the horizontal plain around the listener. Although the title implies the etude should be heard through headphones, it is best to listen to it through studio monitors or a home stereo which presents a good stereo image.

Mississippi Menagerie (1996) dur. 16m 51s

This recording of Mississippi Menagerie is stereo mix of the quadraphonic tape and studio recordings of the acoustic instruments.

Mississippi Menagerie (compressed Mono)

This composition explores combinations of acoustic instruments (mandolins and alto flute), with processed variants of these instruments, and envelops its audience in a virtual sound space. Through a quadraphonic speaker configuration during performance, the audience is exposed to musical sounds which appear not to come from the speakers themselves but rather from arbitrary (composer specified) positions from within the concert hall. Furthermore, the movement of these sounds within the virtual space possesses an innate physicality through the simulation of distance dependent amplitude attenuation, appropriate Doppler shifting of frequencies, and other natural acoustic phenomena. The spatial, timbral, and melodic relationships between the performers' music and the quadraphonic tape reinforce the programmatic implications of the piece's title. It was given its premiere performance by Alex Ogle and Larry Polansky during the Festival of New Musics held in Spaulding Auditorium at Dartmouth College on April 27, 1996.

Way-Too-Overtired-Grad-Student Blues (1996)

Here's my "Way-Too-Overtired-Grad-Student Blues" played by the Lark String Quartet and digital delays.

Oh my Blacke Soule (1994)

Blacke Soule 03 m 47 s

A duet, accompanied by strings, from my oratorio "The Passion".

Susan Cox, alto; Vineet Shende, tenor.

Holy Sonnets 2, John Donne

Oh my blacke Soule! now thou art summoned

By sickness, deaths herald, and champion;

Thou'art like a pilgrim, which abroad hath done

Treason, and durst not turne to whence hee's fled,

Or like a thiefe, which till deaths doome be read,

Wisheth himselfe delivered from prison;

But damn'd and hal'd to execution,

Wisheth that still he might be'imprisoned;

Yet grace, if thou repent, thou canst not lacke;

But who shall give thee that grace to beginne?

Oh make thy selfe with holy mourning blacke,

And red with blushing, as thou art with sinne;

Or wash thee in Christs blood, which hath this might

That being red, it dyes red soules to white.

Sibling Waves:

Movement II. Game (1993) dur.03m 58s

Game (compressed Mono)

This movement begins as I improvise on a MIDI keyboard. A computer accompanies me (via my own interactive software) by recording fragments and generating variants through processes of transposition and augmentation. When the acoustic instruments enter, this "game" continues as similar transformations occur.

Selected Performances

5/5/98 Miller Theater: New York, NY. Loving Henderson.

The Computer Music Center of Columbia University Annual Concert.
Composition for Digital Audio Tape, two channels.

5/2/98 Julliard School of Music: New York, New York. Approaching Wauzeka Confluence.

Ulla Suokko-Hixson, Flute; Jean Kopperud, Clarinet; Donald MacCourt, Bassoon; Matthew Gold, Xylophone; Joseph Tompkins, Marimba; Stephen Gosling, Piano; Christopher Bailey, Conductor.

4/23/97 Speculum Musicae Performances: New York, NY.
A Wild Turkey Lands in the Crowded Forest and an Open Meadow.

Sextet for Flute, Clarinet, Viola, Cello, Piano, and Marimba, members of Speculum Musicae; Allen Blustine, Conductor.

12/12/96 International Building: New York, NY. Terminal Jamb.

For Macintosh Computer Interface, Microphone, and Computer Controlled Mixer. Timothy Polashek, interface.

8/22/96 International Computer Music Conference, 1996: Hong Kong. Sonata.

Composition for Digital Audio Tape, two channels.

4/27/96 Festival of New Musics: Hanover, NH. Mississippi Menagerie.

For mandolin, mandocello, alto flute, and four channels for speakers. Alex Ogle, Flute; Larry Polansky, Mandolins.

2/16/96 Concert Acousmatique: Montreal, Canada. Sonata.

Composition for Digital Audio Tape, two channels.

11/22/94 Moscow Autumn Festival: Moscow, Russia. Shadows.

Interactive work for soprano, MIDI keyboard, and two computers.
Timothy Polashek, Keyboard and Computers; Albina Stoianova, Voice.

8/15/95 Auditorio da Escola Municipal de Musica: Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sonata.

Composition for Digital Audio Tape, two channels.

8/1/93 Gubbio Festival of New Music: Gubbio, Italy. Sibling Waves: 1. March. 2. Game.

Composition for Flute, Sop. Saxophone, Trumpet, Piano, two MIDI Keyboards patch to interactive algorithms, and computer. Gubbio Festival New Music Ensemble; Esther Lamneck, Conductor.

9/13/93 Fifth Annual Iowa Composers Forum Festival: Iowa City, Iowa. Coevolution.

Interactive work for two MIDI controllers and computer.
Timothy Polashek, Keyboard and Computer; David Preston, Electronic Wind Instrument.

5/14/94 New Music by Polashek: Grinnell, Iowa.

Anniversaire. John Suhr-Rommereim, Baritone; Barbara Lien, Piano.
Sphinx. Jennifer Boots, Violin; Jennifer Moon, Viola; Daniel Weiss, Cello; Jane Lien, Piano.
Aquaria for Piano, Saxophone, and Computer. Timothy Polashek, Piano; Matthew Polashek, Saxophone.
The Passion of Jesus Christ. oratorio for strings, 4 voices, and computer. Timothy Polashek, Conductor.

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polashek@roar.music.columbia.edu

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