James Drew

“I’m still asked the following question,” the composer writes, “How does one create musical images whose basic shapes retain their identity even though they are created from indeterminate processes? My solutions haven’t changed much from 1963, when I composed Lute in the Attic (see Cage’s Notations for score example) and continue today with Scratchbook Pieces 2006. In the process I developed over the years I use a standard array of quasi-conventional notation, but with an expanded sound vocabulary. I also use a dialectical process of combining sound images that’s similar to a kind of iso-rhythmic circle. In other words, the melodic/harmonic images (which are linear-goal directed) operate in a non-linear space, which is self-referential. There is always some part of the overall sound imagery that is being heard in a work at any given time. In my Greywolf Online Composition Studio (www.greywolf-artistry.com), students ask many questions about variation processes, creating form, silence in music, early chant to tone-clusters, conventional and indeterminate notation, and questions about composing for various instruments. In our current period, it’s extremely encouraging to see that there are so many very talented intelligent young people who will make important contributions to the valued aspects of our culture. Bravo!”

Premieres

Whispering at the Edges of Heaven, was introduced in 2006 via live Internet broadcast from Frankfurt, Germany, while the Coro Odyssea of Lisbon, Portugal presented the premieres of Alleluia and Scratchbook Series: Vox Organalis.

Performances

Several works received performances during 2006, including Talking Circle by Resonanz Percussions, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Lute in the Attic, by soprano Elie Zoft in London, England; Dublin Dream Songs, by soprano Nanette Ore in Liverpool, England; Solemn Acts in Rain, by the Ryan/Blake Duo, in Warwick, England; and the piano work Scratchbook Pieces was performed by the composer in Chicago, IL.

Publications

Whispering at the Edges of Heaven, chamber/radiotheatre versions; Sounding Stillness, solo violin; “Vox Organalis,” from Scratchbook Series; Alleluia, SATB; Greywolf Singing, solo cello; and Tzigane, violin concerto.

Recordings

Whispering at the Edges of Heaven, Wavefield Ensemble under the direction of the composer.

Further Information

• 2004-2005 Annual American Composers Update
• 2003-2004 Annual American Composers Update
• 2002-2003 Annual American Composers Update
• 2001-2002 Annual American Composers Update
• 1999-2000 Annual American Composers Update
• SAI's Music for Young People section