Author: elizabeth

Tides

full orchestra
9 min.

Tides was conceived after visiting Albania and Macedonia on tour, as a member of the West Coast Symphony Orchestra, in summer 2012. The rugged beauty and colourful spirit of the Balkans fascinated me. This piece grew out of contemplating the continuity of time, and also the idea of an ancient land, where tides (both literal and metaphorical) have been changing and shaping its unique character for centuries. Precise, dancing rhythms inspired by Balkan folk music permeate the piece, contrasted with a fluid sense of motion and freedom.

Premiered by Orkestra Simfonike e RTSH (Albanian Radio-Television Orchestra), Bujar Llapaj, conductor, at the Academy of Arts, Tirana, Albania, 21 March, 2013.

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

Alchemy

horn, cello & piano

~20:15

Alchemy was conceived as a trio for horn, cello, and piano, in three movements. The three-part structure was inspired by the three stages of the medieval alchemical process– attempting to turn base metals into gold, or the ‘elixir of life’: 1: corruption/dissolution, 2: purification (linked to the moon and femininity), and 3: enlightenment/sublimation (linked to the sun and masculinity). The horn introduces a short theme in the first movement, which is then transformed through seven variations– seven being the number of metals involved in the alchemical process. The second movement is slow, sensuous, and lyrical, drawing inspiration from jazz tonalities, as well as from the delicate raindrop-like sound and polyrhythmic patterns of the kora (west African harp). The third movement brings the piece to a bright, rhythmically intense culmination.

-Commission funded in part by the Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Program of the International Horn Society

-2nd movement premiered by Oliver de Clercq- horn, Zoltan Rozsnyai- cello, and Chris Morano- piano, at the Sonic Boom Festival, Western Front, Vancouver, 25 March 2012

-full piece (all 3 mvts) premiered by Oliver de Clercq- horn, Ariel Barnes- cello, and Rachel Iwaasa- piano, at St. Mark’s Anglican Church, Vancouver, 20 May, 2012

Sheet music is available through the International Horn Society:

http://www.hornsociety.org/marketplace/online-library#!/~/product/id=18634910

 

Tripod

Tripod was written to accompany the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Surrealist exhibit, “The Colour of My Dreams”. Just as the Surrealist movement set out to explore the unconscious mind (mind’s eye), I was imagining this work unfolding through the aperture (eye) of the camera. Several photographic/filmic devices were employed, including focus, pan, dissolve, solarization, and extreme close-up, as well as use of bold chords (creating the “positive” and “negative” of an image). Morse code also makes an appearance, spelling out the letters “Y” (why?), and “E-Y-E”. The musical saw adds an otherworldly vocal layer to the music.

  • Site-specific work, for vertically spatialized chamber orchestra (musicians to be spatialized on three different levels of the rotunda of the Vancouver Art Gallery). Concert presented by Redshift Music Society, along with the Canadian Music Centre, and the Canadian League of Composers. The concert was organized to showcase the work of three emerging BC composers: Elizabeth Knudson, James O’Callaghan, and Chistopher Reiche, all of whom were accepted into the CMC/CLC’s inaugural Young Composers Mentorship Programme. Premiered by Redshift Music Society, 7 June, 2011.

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Sheet music is available through the Canadian Music Centre.

The Painted Brain

Libretto by Ethel Whitty

In a forensic laboratory, two scientists are examining the brain of a young woman who has recently died.

  • Written for ‘The Opera Project’, a private event hosted by Tom Cone and Karen Matthews, featuring four new one-act chamber operas. Performed by: Caitlin Beaupré- soprano, Michael Mori- baritone, Mike Dowler- clarinet, Kathryn Emiko Lee- violin, Stefan Hintersteininger- cello, Katie Rife- percussion. Premiered May 28, 2011 (Vancouver, B.C.)
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The Painted Brain- chamber opera in one act