Lucas — the Bringer of Light


Version I:
— Violin, Alto Saxophone, Vibraphone and Live Electronics —

Version II:
Triple Concerto for

— Violin, Alto Saxophone and Vibraphone —
with
— Laptop and Symphony Orchestra —

Score, Parts and Electronics available from

Voice House Publishing

Version I: $100.00 — Quartet version (2007)
Version II: $400.00 — Triple Concerto Symphony Orchestra version (2009)

Lucas, The Bringer of Light was made possible through the generous co-commission of
Centro Mexicano para la Musica y las Artes Sonoras (CMMAS)
and
Dr. Rodrigo Sigal.


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Program Note:

Lucas — the Bringer of Light (March 21, 2007) explores, mainly, the world as perceived through the senses of a 7 month-old baby. At that age the world pours through our senses without hindrance of defense mechanisms and without the narrowing caused by categorical discrimination against sensory input labelled "redundant" or "inconsequential" through repeated testing. Everything is new, unique, raw, intense. There are no concepts of repetition or sequence, only the infinite, pounding intensity of the river of NOW.

However the rudiments of language are already in place. The infant expresses iteslf with an enormous range of vocalisms, from animal shrieks to soothing cooing, to vocal sounds made purely for experimentation.

There is no primary consciousness in the infant, no sense of self, no sense of the "remembered present" and certainly no secondary consciousness — no awareness of being aware. The infant is pure, unbiased, capable only of honesty, dependent, fragile and vulnerable.

The other subject of this work is, paradoxically, machines, or more precisely our love of them and affection for them and the sounds they make. The whole enterprise of music revolves around a dependency and love of machines, whether electronic or mechanical. Machines ARE us — they are fingers and feet. They sing to us and soothe us. We bathe in their voices — the urban soundscape is a aural orgy of unpoliced whirring, growling, revving, purring — some call it noise pollution — most do not think about it — it is said that the wooshing of liquids in the womb sounds like a vacuum cleaner.

I used to avoid all machine noises, until I made a careful study of the dopplerized fly-bys of insects. Close scrutiny revealed the symmetry, periodicity and redundancy of motors of all sorts, whether on the backs of bugs or under the hoods of autos. From that moment on my mind has become free to love the voices of machines, and to hear in them our own songs.

Lucas — the Bringer of Light was composed for SWARMIUS and guest artist Joel Bluestone,

Jozefius Vaatierz Rattus, March 21, 2007

SWARMIUS

SWARMIUS comprises SAXIMUS (Saxophones), Fiddlus (Violin), Sammy D. (Dancer/Choreographer), and Jozefius Vattierz Rattus (Electro-Acoustic Composer/Laptop performer). The quartet is committed to expanding the avant-garde classical literature to encompass a New Relevance. The New Relevance demands works that are non-elitist, rigorous, and multi-level: works that are simultaneously accessible and challenging. To this end, SWARMIUS combines traditional virtuosity with a search for new timbres, performance practices, and 21st century cross-cultural aesthetic reflection. It challenges timeworn, outmoded norms for the uses of classical music, the means by which it is presented, and the venues in which it is experienced. SWARM unites performers, composer, and choreographer, focuses them on a common goal, and puts them onstage together. SWARMIUS is in residence at the School of Music and Dance at San Diego State University, home for 17 years of the maverick genius Harry Partch Ensemble. SWARMIUS strives to emulate Partch's uncompromising aesthetic values.

Biography

Joseph Waters (b. 1952) is a member of the first generation of American classical composers who grew up playing in rock bands. Throughout his career he has been intrigued by the confluence and tensions that entangle and bind the music of Europe and Africa. His interests include physiological, sub-cultural pattern seeking mechanisms and development of fractal cognitive models for understanding pattern recognition. Much of his work involves interactions between electronic and acoustic instruments. He is the founder of NWEAMO (New West Electro-Acoustic Music Organization). Each October the NWEAMO Festival travels between Mexico City, San Diego, Portland and New York City, presenting composers from around the world in concerts that unite the worlds of avant-garde classical and experimental electronica. He also performs and composes for the Waters_Bluestone_Duel, a collaboration with percussionist Joel Bluestone that explores the combination of live electronics and percussion, as well as SWARMIUS the virtuoso interdisciplinary quartet in residence at San Diego State University. He studied composition at Yale University, the Universities of Oregon and Minnesota, and Stockholms Musikpedagogiska Institut. Primary teachers were Jacob Druckman, Bernard Rands, Roger Reynolds, Dominick Argento, and Martin Bresnick.
www.josephwaters.com

© 2006 Joseph Waters
All Rights Reserved

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