Nico Muhly » Projects

Seeing is Believing

Nico — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:32:43 +0000

Seeing is Believing references the exciting and superstitious practice of observing and mapping the sky; while writing it, I wanted to mimic the process by which, through observation, a series of points becomes a line – this seemed like the most appropriate way to think about a soloist versus an orchestra. The electric violin is such a specifically evocative instrument and has always reminded me of the 1980’s, and I tried, at times, to reference the music attendant to 80’s educational videos about science, which always sounded vast and mechanical — and sometimes, quite romantic.

The music begins and ends with the violin creating its own stellar landscape through a looping pedal, out of which instruments begin to articulate an unchanging series of eleven chords which governs the harmonic language of the piece. Three minutes in, the woodwinds begin twittering in what seems to be random, insect-like formations. Eventually, the piano and solo violin “map” them into the celestially pure key of C major; rapturous pulses ensue. A slightly more stylized and polite version of the insect music appears, and the violin sings long lines above it. After a brief return to the first music, slow, nervous music alternates with fast, nervous music. The fast music takes over, pitches are scattered around, the violin calls everybody back to order with forty repeated notes; rapturous pulses again ensue. The piece ends as it began, with looped educational music depicting the night sky.

Seeing is Believing
Live recording – January 7, 2008
Thomas Gould, violin
Nicholas Collon conducting Aurora Orchestra

Wish You Were Here

Nico — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:59:04 +0000

I’ve always suspected that cartoons and illustrations do a better job capturing the emotional content of the unknown than pictures and first-hand narration. I have a picture in my head of the illustrators of the 1940s and 1950, holed up in Belgium drawing the tribal peoples of the Congo, or in California articulating gorgeous Arabian landscapes for early animated films, participating along the way in all of the politically charged problems that arise from empires, colonies, and the abuses of political power. There is something inherently romantic about willfully ignoring the complexities of drawing on sources; artists who ignore political overtones go on to inspire the next generation who, in turn, worry about them too much, and so on and so forth in an unending cycle of guilt and influence. Wish You Were Here, written for the Boston Pops, pays homage to Colin McPhee, one of the first western musicologists to study Balinese gamelan, as well as to the great illustrators Carl Barks and Hergé (responsible for Donald Duck & Tintin, respectively). I tried to write a completely romantic and fanciful gamelan-influenced piece, attempting nothing but the most superficial authenticity. On top of this twittery and excited music, a long, lonesome melody unfolds. After a desolate interlude with severe, ship’s-horn brass, the energetic patterns start again, and the long line returns, this time with a triumphant, revelatory ending.

Syllables

Nico — Wed, 30 May 2007 12:21:27 +0000

Syllables is an exploded setting of an old Icelandic text describing the end of the world. I say exploded as I elected to set the text both in English, fragments of Old Icelandic, as well as nonsense syllables taken from both languages. There is a constant, anxious pulse throughout the first section, which ends with a giant unison and the entire choir singing the same text for the first time in the piece. This texture melts into an aquatic, lilting piano accompaniment, over which a long, long line eventually dissolves into unison chordal syllables, as if the last things standing are the fragments of language.

Syllables was commissioned by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus as part of their 2006-2007 commissioning season, alongside works by Paul Morvaec and David Lang.

Read a review here.

Texts

Icelandic texts:
Sól tér sortna, sígr fold í mar,
hverfa af himni heiðar stjörnur;
geisar eimi ok aldrnari,
leikr hár hiti við himin sjálfan.

Geyr nú Garmr mjök fyr Gnípahelli;
festr man slitna, en freki renna.

Sér hon upp koma öðru sinni
jörð ór œgi iðjagrœna;
falla forsar, flýgr örn yfir,
sá er á fjalli fiska veiðir.

Þar munu eptir undrsamligar
gullnar töflur í grasi finnask,
þærs í árdaga áttar höfðu.

Völuspá 57-59, 61

English texts:
The sun turns black, earth sinks in the sea, The hot stars down from heaven are whirled; Fierce grows the steam and the life-feeding flame, Till fire leaps high about heaven itself.

Now Garm howls loud before Gnipahellir, The fetters will burst, and the wolf run free; Much do I know, and more can see Of the fate of the gods, the mighty in fight.

Now do I see the earth anew Rise all green from the waves again; The cataracts fall, and the eagle flies, And fish he catches beneath the cliffs.

In wondrous beauty once again Shall the golden tables stand mid the grass, Which the gods had owned in the days of old.

Trans. Henry Adams Bellows (1923)

Radiant Music

Nico — Fri, 18 May 2007 15:38:37 +0000

Radiant Music was written for Alice K. Dade at her request for a short recital piece. The tape part is made up of several episodes of shimmering music for electric flutes, dulcimers, organs, baroque strings, trumpet, and choir. This piece is focused on a simple progression of three chords; this progression appears in the sequence that opens the piece. This sequence reappears in each episode as a harmonic goal for the flute, whose part circumnavigates it but never hits it exactly. Also at play in Radiant Music is a notion of fast music that moves slowly versus slow music that moves quickly. This is most evident in the “Throbbing” music which is very fast, but has an immensely slow harmonic motion, and in the conclusion, which is made of one chord reworked over a long stretch of time. Radiant Music is dedicated to Alice K. Dade.

Performance Notes
Radiant Music requires a pair of stereo speakers, placed as far apart on the stage as possible. The tape requires manipulation twice during the piece: at the start and conclusion of the cadenza. If possible, an assistant should execute this pausing and recommencing, but if necessary, the performer can control the tape from the stage.

I Cannot Attain Unto It

Nico — Fri, 18 May 2007 15:30:46 +0000

I Cannot Attain Unto It is a setting of a section of Psalm 139 arranged such that certain syllables repeat and cycle around each other. The harmonic motion of the piece is through common tones, a method in which a single note is sustained through two related or unrelated keys. The use of the repetition is meant to be at once devotional and hypnotic. Mr. Muhly said he has been drawn to the psalms since he was a young child. “Their obsessive repetition and turns of phrase has always fascinated me. Every time I set one, I learn something new about the strategic use of repetition.” I Cannot Attain Unto It was commissioned by the Manhattan Choral Ensemble.

Live Recording
The Manhattan Choral Ensemble
Thomas Cunningham, conductor

Text

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
- Psalm 139, 6-8

The Sweets of Evening

Nico — Fri, 18 May 2007 15:22:16 +0000

The Sweets of Evening (2006) was written for Dianne Berkun and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Having worked with this group of musicians many times before, I was honored to finally write them a piece. Having sung in a boy choir myself, I am fascinated and intimate with the changing nature of young voices, and I looked for a text that is itself transitory – here, depicting the movement between dusk and night. I have long been a great fan of Christopher Smart’s poetry, and particularly of Benjamin Britten’s setting of fragments from Jubilate Agno; my own setting here nods to Britten in its episodic nature and, I hope, generosity towards the singers. The Sweets of Evening lasts six and one half minutes. –Nico Muhly

The Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Dianne Berkun, conductor

Text

The Sweets of Evening by Christopher Smart (1722-1771)

The sweets of evening charm the mind,
Sick of the sultry day;
The body then no more confin’d,
But exercise with freedom join’d,
When Phoebus sheathes his ray.

While all-serene the summer moon
Sends glances thro’ the trees,
And Philomel begins her tune,.
And Asteria too shall help her soon
With voice of skillful ease.

A nosegay, every thing that grows,
And music, every sound
To lull the sun to his repose;
The skies are colour’d like the rose
With lively streaks around.

Of all the changes rung by time
None half so sweet appear,
As those when thoughts themselves sublime,
And with superior natures chime
In fancy’s highest sphere.

Duet No 1: Chorale Pointing Downwards

Nico — Fri, 18 May 2007 04:49:04 +0000

Duet N^o1: Chorale Pointing Downwards is the first in a series of short string pieces that serve as harmonic and technical studies for both composer and performers. Duet N^o 1 is constructed around a cycle of fourteen chords repeated almost without stopping throughout the work. However, the cycle is subject to several simple rhythmic processes and two cryptic interruptions and, by the middle, assumes a sort of fervent perpetual-motion perseverance. Here, I attempted to convey a kind of harmonic rapture with technical reserve (music that sounds like a string exercise). The piece ends slowly and quietly, with a series of ascending and descending scales trailing the fourteen chords behind them. Duet N^o 1 is dedicated to Nadia Sirota with great thanks.

First Service

Nico — Thu, 17 May 2007 15:09:11 +0000

These canticles were first performed in November, 2004, at Girton College, Cambrdige, and then at Clare College , Cambridge. They were subsequently broadcast on the BBC 3’s Choral Evensong programme in February, 2005.

The Magnificat features an anxious two-note octave in the organ, nervously twitching in anticipation. The Nunc Dimittis (which is one of my favorite things written in the English language) starts slowly, and then focuses all of its energy towards the beginning of the Gloria Patri, a New Testament harmonic culling of everything that has come before it. – Nico Muhly

Many thanks to Judith Clurman for organizing the performances.

Magnificat

Nunc Dimittis

Clare College Choir
James McVinnie, organ
Tim Brown, conductor

Texts

MAGNIFICAT
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm.
He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat
and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things.
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel
as he promised to our forefathers Abraham, and his seed forever.
Gloria Patri

NUNC DIMITTIS

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Gloria Patri

The backside of King’s College Chapel, with Clare College at left

Joshua

Nico — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:10:10 +0000

I wrote the soundtrack to a film called Joshua, directed by George Ratliff, with Vera Farmiga, Sam Rockwell, and Jacob Kogan, (who weirdly appeared in an episode of Wonder Showzen). It is a thriller involving a small boy (who is a piano prodigy) plotting against his family; the score is a piano-based score with a lot of orchestral halo. Fox Searchlight is going to be releasing it in July, 2007.

Below, an excerpt from the end of the film, a slow and tense piece. I am really happy with the way this particular nugget turned out.

Excerpt from Joshua
Caroline Pliszka, solo violin

NB The link above – which I will keep up as long as it is extant, has a preview of the film which uses a bunch of my music in the first two thirds, and then when the pace of the preview heats up, the sort of typical Showgirls synth drum stuff starts. Culturally, the way we prefer to indicate “excitement” has always been an endlessly fascinating thing to me, because I feel like I have a completely alternate way of getting at this sort of tension.

Joshua was recorded by Dan Bora at the Looking Glass Studios in September, 2006.

Choking Man

Nico — Wed, 16 May 2007 23:03:14 +0000

I wrote the soundtrack to the movie Choking Man, directed by Steve Barron. It’s a really great movie, I think, and the score is very important to it, which I like, and they gave me an enormous amount of flexibility in how much music there should be and where, etc. With Dan Bora, I created a sound world comprising a small ensemble, and then a spatialized mini-gamelan of gongs, bells, guitars and pianos. We recorded at the Looking Glass Studios in January, 2006.

Choking Man M17: Thanksgiving Day

Choking Man M20: Thanks