The first two movements that you will hear in the video reflect the two stanza of "A Dream Within a Dream," which I divided in this way to make the piece more interesting. All five movements from this piece are currently available on my Patreon page. Please note that each movement on my page is listed as an individual track. I had to do this because the entire wore, which is over 30 minutes long, exceeds the 200MB file limit on Patreon.
Realizing that Halloween is tomorrow, I wanted to take some time and showcase a work that I created a few years ago that is appropriate for the holiday. I originally created "Five Nightmares" as a possible electroacoustic piece for toy piano and stereophonic playback. I later removed the toy piano because I realized that, through further editing in the future, it could function as a solo work. I perceive "Five Nightmares" as a mostly cyclical work connected by the poem "A Dream Within a Dream" (publ. 1850, Public Domain) by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), which I narrate and distort in different forms: mainly through electronically morphing and reversing my voice sound samples. I, then, layered that with improvisational synthesised music and sounds created and edited via Audacity and smartphone music apps, like Plasma Sound, Lexis Audio Editor and others. This final combination results in an eerie atmosphere reminiscent of bad dreams. The first two movements that you will hear in the video reflect the two stanza of "A Dream Within a Dream," which I divided in this way to make the piece more interesting. All five movements from this piece are currently available on my Patreon page. Please note that each movement on my page is listed as an individual track. I had to do this because the entire wore, which is over 30 minutes long, exceeds the 200MB file limit on Patreon.
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This year has proven especially difficult for the arts: specifically, for musicians, established institutions, and contemporary composers. Due to the onslaught of the Coronavirus pandemic since March, the music world has had to adapt to the situation as best as possible. This has meant conducting virtual music conferences and concerts online so that everyone around the world can participate and observe the events. In certain cases, the severity of COVID-19 has also led some paying institutions, like the Metropolitan Opera, to present previously recorded broadcasts online to the public for free. Other events that I have observed and attended this year include performances from the Spoleto Festival USA and the Research on Contemporary Composition (ROCC) conference from the University of North Georgia Music Department. Besides demonstrating the direction in which classical music is going in the twenty-first century, that event also highlights the procedures and precautions that composers and musicians today can take to maintain productivity in this era of uncertainty.
I have already talked about how the sociopolitical situations in 2020 (and part of the 2010s for that matter), have helped to provide inspiration for new pieces. In this post, I concentrate on what composers and performers can or should do to stay active in their field despite restrictions. The first, and perhaps most important, obstacle to overcome is learning to work remotely in a virtual setting. This means collaborating and communicating with performers or music commissioners from home via social networking technology, video conferencing, and e-mail. Rehearsals and performances are restricted to remote locations, which has enabled composers and performers to (re)consider and adapt to performance spaces. It also (theoretically) eliminates the possibility of physical travel because the composer is now able to work with performers from other states, cities, or countries without having to leave home. Working virtually on a music project also reinforces the importance of Internet etiquette when it comes to collaboration and commission opportunities. Those wanting more details about that specific topic should check out my post from July 2018. I have also witnessed virtual music performances in 2020 where certain musicians or ensembles have had to play under extreme conditions, I refer to performing music in public while wearing masks and applying Social Distancing protocols out of health concerns and safety precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Of course, not all musicians agree with these regulations, openly expressing personal frustration. Still, this opposition in the music world represents but a small percentage of people. The few performance spaces that have reopened in the midst of the virus still implement safety procedures (like temperature checks and hand sanitizing stations) to keep both performers and audiences safe. Working under these conditions, while practicable, can still prove to be a risky decision. From my perspective as a composer, I find that it is best to work and collaborate from home and usually try to avoid face to face interactions unless it is required. Earlier this month, I discussed the necessity for classical music to diversify its performance repertoire to include composers from all over the world, with specific focus on Latin America. I also hinted that, given the tumultuous and unpredictable year that is 2020, classical music and its associated institutions (concert halls, opera houses and --unfortunately-- some areas of academia) have faced backlash for cultural exclusivity. While these aspects still hold true to some degree, the contemporary classical music scene is trying to change that perception by becoming more inclusive and self-aware about modern global issues. Contemporary classical music today demonstrates the diversity of styles that apply both acoustic and electronic elements: sometimes with visual media to accompany performances. It also does not have to conform to one subgenre. Based on what I have encountered, composers today can apply tonality, atonality, and avante garde extended performance techniques how they see fit.
It is understood that classical music has a bad historical reputation for espousing ethnocentrism. However, most contemporary composers are also keenly aware of the pressing and dire events that have transpired over the past few years: COVID-19, climate change and social justice through anti-racism to name a few. Issues like these have served as inspiration for new works and important thematic materials that engage the audience by addressing current situations. These materials also provide important programmatic contexts for listeners and viewers because that helps them to understand the music. I also consider some of my works from 2020 as part of this important moment ofof creativity. When the COVID-19 pandemic began infecting the United States in March, for example, I started using that time to write acoustic and electronic works from home: pieces that candidly explored the fear and isolation associated with the effects of the virus and living in self-quarantine. That last point brings me to other key questions, which I will address in a later post. How have contemporary composers managed their workflow by creating new pieces in these uncertain times of crises? Given the restrictions imposed by COVID-19 and Social Distancing, how do composers and performers maintain contact in a virtual setting through advancements in technology? How can composers today maintain productivity and engage their audiences if physical concert venues (for the most part) have been closed for months? Music and visuals by Anthony L. Sanchez (b. 1988)
Music created and edited using Reaktor 6 Player and Audacity Video taken in my studio on October 12, 2020-- Animatronic books prop used Video edited using Movie Maker and Adobe Premiere Elements 12 This video is another version of the "Haunted Theme 5" from last year, which I removed because of the negative critical reception that the original received. Looking back, the audio quality and overall approach sounded horrible. It was too loud, unbalanced, and wasn't scary enough. This post will briefly discuss representation and expanding the classical music performance repertoire to include Latin American and Caribbean composers. It is necessary for me to write about this, considering that debates have emerged in the past few years (particularly, this year) concerning the problematic nature of the classical music genre. Many have stressed its lack of diversity by focusing too much on dead European and American composers, to frequent instances of cultural appropriation and racism. As a contemporary classical composer of Puerto Rican descent, I agree with such complaints and realize that concert halls and operas houses must do more to clean up this negative image and treat music by Latin American and Caribbean composers (and other marginalized groups) as more than just a novelty.
I consider this blog post as an addendum to my previous discussion about audio recording preservation. Like that post, I will offer digital online resources that people can use to locate information about Latin American and Caribbean music. With that said, let me begin by referring once again to one of the resources that I talked about last week: the “Audio Recordings” section of the Archivo Virtual Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (ICP). This audio archive features digitized recordings of music by Puerto Rican composers from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The segment on nineteenth-century classical music concentrates on danzas from the Romantic era by Manuel Gregorio Tavárez (1843-1883), Juan Morel Campos (1857-1896), and many others. The section dedicated to twentieth-century Puerto Rican classical music features recordings of works by composers like Hector Campos Parsi (1922-1998), Rafael Aponte Ledée (b. 1937), and Ernesto Cordero (b. 1946). This is not to say that this archive is without problems. I mentioned last week that it does not contain contemporary popular music from the twenty-first century. Perhaps, the same can be said about its selection of contemporary classical music. To my knowledge, I was unable to locate mainland U.S.-based composers from the Puerto Rican diaspora, as well as Afro-Puerto Rican, female, and LGBTQIA composers. In this era, proper representation from these groups is important now more than ever. In terms of classical music ensembles, the Unitas Ensemble focuses specifically on promoting classical music by Latin American and Caribbean composers. Based in Boston and directed by Lina Gonzalez-Granados, this group specializes in performing pieces by both deceased and living composers from international and stateside Latin American and Hispanophone Caribbean communities. The ensemble also commissions new pieces by Latin American and Caribbean composers to expand and enhance the classical music repertoire. Many of their performances can be accessed through social media. While this blog post functions mainly to help musicians based in the United States in terms of Latin American musical representation, I am aware that some Latin American composers have encountered backlash for their work. Miguel del Águila (the current Composer in Residence for the Orchestra of the Americas) notes that people like the Argentine tango composer Astor Piazolla (1921-1992) were often shunned in their home country for experimenting too much with traditional or popular music genres, while this same experimentation has often been appreciated elsewhere (see latest program from Unitas Ensemble). The problem of underrepresentation, then, must not be perceived as strictly U.S.-centric, but global. In other words, both geographical regions must do their part to accurately and fairly demonstrate works from past and present Latin American composers. |
AuthorDMA. Composer of acoustic and electronic music. Pianist. Experimental film. Archives
January 2025
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