Archive for the ‘Composition’ Category

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A Baby Sleeps (for Isabella)

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

After about two years of research, sketches and learning a new instrument, my composition for my daughter was premièred June 13th, 2009 by the SFCCO. The genesis of A Baby Sleeps (video) came after my daughter was born and my grandfather told me I need to write her a piece. I wanted to write a modern lullaby and one that would reflect my daughters American and Taiwanese heritage. For a few months I struggled for inspiration, then one night I realized my wife was singing a beautiful lullaby to her every night. I decided to write a “Theme & Variations” on this Taiwanese lullaby, 搖嬰仔歌 (Rocking the baby lullaby). It was written by the famous Taiwanese composer, 呂泉生 (Lu Chuan-sheng). (more information on this melody and Master Lu is available in an earlier post). Originally I was just going to add the beautiful Chinese instrument called 古箏 (gŭzhēng) to the orchestra. But in August of 2008 I was in Taipei and I bought an instrument that I have wanted to play for 20 years, the 笙 (shēng) (more on the sheng in an earlier post). So I started to add those instruments into the composition and ended up featuring the sheng and guzheng as soloist.

isy

Gangqin Zhao, 古箏 (gŭzhēng) &
Michael Cooke, 笙 (shēng)

I had written a bunch of different variations and in March 2009 after the premièred of my composition String Theory, I started to put all the pieces together into a composition. I ended up throwing out several variations as they were to complex and made the piece lose it’s lullaby quality. When the dust settled I had four variations (plus the theme) that I liked: Variation I: Fragments, Variation II: Canon, Variation III: Block Chords & Variation IV: Reduction. I wanted the piece to flow better then just switching from variation to variation so I wrote some “connective tissue” to put it all together in a seamless way. The piece became more of a dream sequence then a traditional Theme & Variations. Now I prefer to view the composition in that way, where the first theme is when the baby is going to sleep listening to the lullaby and at Variation I she is asleep and starts to dream. The variation send her on dream adventures, maybe swimming in the ocean or floating in the sky. At the reprise of the theme at the end of the composition, the baby is back from her dream adventures and is dreaming about being in her parents arms.

A reviews of this concert can be found on Sequenza 21 and Memory Select’s Blog


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String Theory

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

String Theory, was premièred February 28th, 2009 by the SFCCO. String Theory is a guided improvisation composition that uses a graphical score which is inspired by the theoretical physics theory of the same name. String Theory is the revolutionary and shocking branch of theoretical physics that combines quantum mechanics and general relativity into a quantum theory of gravity. According to string theory, absolutely everything in the universe—all of the particles that make up matter and forces—is comprised of tiny vibrating fundamental strings. The Strings of string theory are one-dimensional oscillating lines, but they are no longer considered fundamental to the theory, which can be formulated in terms of points or surfaces too. In this composition, I have used graphical notation representing strings, points and surfaces to guide the orchestra in improvisation. Since String Theory may prove Einstein’s unified field theory at the very end of the composition the orchestra unites. If String Theory proves to be true it creates an elegant universe composed entirely of the music of strings.
One of the exciting things about using guide improvisation as a compositional technic is the fact that music is different during each performance but over all recognizable as the same composition. To help demonstrate this I have a recording of the dress rehearsal of String Theory for a comparison to the concert performance.

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Stripes & Stars

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

Stripes & Stars

 
In April 2008 I won a “Meet The Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections” grant to participate in the SFCCO project, The Star and Stripes Forever variations. Where 6 composers each write a variations on The Star and Stripes Foreverand it put together into make this new piece. I have many warm memories about hearing The Stars and Stripes Forever during 4th of July outings as a child. It is by far one of the most well known marches in the repertoire. While I have enjoyed listen to it over the years, as a performer, my part was always very boring. Bassoons and saxophone only got the pa-pa part of the um-pa-um-pa accompaniment. So for my variation, Stripes & Stars, I first decided I would give the bassoons a more fun part. Then while working with melodies I inverted them and really liked it. The inversion of a given melody is the melody turned upside-down. For instance, if the original melody has a rising major third, the inverted melody has a falling major third. I then recombined various melodies a little to round out my variation. This piece was performed on June 7th, 2008 by the SFCCO.

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Sun & Moon

Saturday, March 8th, 2008
Score of the Sun movement

Score of the Sun movement

On March 8th, 2008, the San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra (SFCCO) premiered my composition Sun & Moon, a work deeply rooted in the concept of circle-music. This form of music embraces a structure where phrases can be performed in any sequence or timing, offering a rich tapestry of sound that defies traditional musical narratives.

Sun & Moon draws inspiration from ancient mythology, where the celestial bodies have symbolized contrasting yet complementary forces since the dawn of humanity. The sun represents the masculine, the source of light and life, while the moon reflects the feminine, reigning over the darkness and the rhythms of time. Together, they embody the dualistic nature of existence—balancing light and dark, male and female, life and decay.

The composition is structured in two parts: the “Sun” section begins on the left side of the ensemble and sonically moves across to the right, mirroring the sun’s journey across the sky. Conversely, the “Moon” section starts from the right, moving to the left, encapsulating the moon’s nocturnal path. This movement not only illustrates their respective celestial paths but also their influence over the natural world.

I was introduced to the concept of circle music by Dr. Cindy McTee, who composed a piece in this style for my bassoon teacher, Sue Schrier (Bancroft). Inspired by its flexibility and the unique challenges it presents, Sun & Moon was crafted to allow each musician the freedom to explore the themes within a loosely defined framework, mimicking the dance of these heavenly bodies.

This performance by the SFCCO not only explored these ancient symbols through modern compositional techniques but also invited the audience to experience the perpetual interplay between the sun and the moon, echoing through time and space.

Sun & Moon

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Symphony No. 3 “The Shadows of Japanese Children” take 2

Friday, December 7th, 2007

After premiering the outer two movements in 2005, the SFCCO premiered the inner two movements of my third symphony: Symphony No. 3 “The Shadows of Japanese Children” on December 7th, 2007. More information is available from the original notes of the first performance.

Symphony No. 3 “The Shadows of Japanese Children”
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Ha-Me’aggel for Orchestra

Saturday, June 9th, 2007

        I recently completed a new composition, Ha-Me’aggel (one who draws circles) for Orchestra (video) was premièred June 9th, 2007 by the SFCCO. This the biggest of my jazz and classical music to date. Originally this piece written for my quintet (woodwinds, trombone, cello, koto and percussion), the Cooke Quintet. The group recorded Ha-Me’aggel on An Indefinite Suspension of The Possible just 2 days after the première of “Music for Humans“. The CD was released on my label Black Hat Records. It has four sections, which in the original version could be played in any order, a form known as circle music. I felt that this piece would adapt well as a Concerto for Saxophone or Orchestra, though I had to make the form less flexible for an orchestra. There is some freedom to allow different instruments be featured but in the first performance alto sax (Michael Cooke), clarinet (Jonathan Russell), piano (Alexis Alrich) and timpani (Victor Flaviani) are featured instruments. These featured instruments have improvisational solo sections. The melodies in the piece were written using a Klezmer scale, which made me think of the story of Onias (Honi) Ha-Me’aggel, a first century Jewish scholar who drew a circle and placed himself in the center of it, praying for rain and whose prayers were mysteriously and immediately answered. My prayers where also answered, as this piece was made possible by a Creative Connections Award from Meet The Composer.

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Music for Humans

Friday, June 9th, 2006

Michael introducing his composition.

Michael introducing his composition.

Music for Humans, was premièred June 9th, 2006 by the SFCCO and Schola Cantorum. (video) Music for Humans, makes use of extended vocal sounds instead of the traditional chorus sing text. Based on ideas I have for a choral symphony, the chorus is asked to make sounds humans can make but choir are rarely asked to. Clapping, snapping and clicking of the tongues are some of the extra sounds the choirs is asked to make. And since there is no text instead of the traditional Ooohs and Aaahs, I use the rich sounds of the Chinese Phonetic alphabet, Zhuyin Fuhao or known as BaPaMaFa. Not only are the sounds the choirs makes in Music for Humans unusual, but so it the way the choir is used. Instead of being a soloist, they are used as just another set of instruments like they way I used 4 vocalist in my first symphony. As for the sound of work, one can hear hints of Witold Lutoslawski, Paul Hindemith, and Meredith Monk. I make use of techniques made famous by Giacinto Scelsi, where I improvise sections then transcribes them into notation, for the orchestra to replay. Over all the work maybe a meditation of the human mind, with points of calm clarity, beauty and intense confusion, which is how we humans live our lives everyday.


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Open Ended

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

Open Ended

 
I had one of my guide improvisation compositions performed by the SFCCO. Open Ended is a very versatile work that is composed before your eyes. This work has no set instrumentation and can be played by any number of performers. It also has no set length; the piece could last 5 minutes or 24 hours. Based on Rova‘s Radar techniques, Open Ended is less of a composition and more of a color or tool palette. It is an ever-growing collection of rules and games for the performers that are triggered by hand signals by the conductor/composer. The conductor/composer then composes the piece live using these hand signals to guide the performers. Open Ended has been performed several times but every time it is a world première and unique performance that can never be repeated.

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Symphony No. 3 “Shadows of Japanese Children”

Friday, June 10th, 2005

       I wrote a new symphony, Symphony No. 3 “Shadows of Japanese Children”. It is based my string quartet with the same title which was completed in 1993. It was a time when I began writing music influence by other cultures. I also began experimenting with polyrhythms and elastic-tempos, like Cowell describes in his book, New Musical Resources. When the SFCCO decided to perform Henry Cowell’s Symphony No. 13 “Madras”, I revisited his music and writings. Listening to Cowell’s “Ongaku for Orchestra” brought my string quartet to my mind. So I decide to rewrite my string quartet and turn it into a symphony for this special SFCCO concert.

       “Shadows of Japanese Children” is a four-movement work based on Japanese music. A book I found in a used bookstore in Dallas, Unforgettable Fire, inspired it. Atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki filled this book with drawings and stories. Many were about children turned into ash statues – their shadows burned on the ground. This very powerful book reminds us that war is not a video game. This work is dedicated to those children.
       The first movement, “Shadows Playing on the Ground“, makes use of a melody in a Japanese classical piece by Kengyo Fujinaga called Yachiyo Jishi (1741-1744). The second movement, “Where has the Shadow’s Father Gone?” is based on the lullaby Ora No Omboko. The third movement, “The Mountain of One Thousand Good Fortunes is Ablaze!” is based on the folk song Sempuku-yama. The titles of the second and third movements are based on the lyrics of the original folk song. The fourth movement, “In the Fallen Sun, only Shadows Remain” makes use of two more folk melodies Hora Nero Nen Nero & Toryanse. The title of this movement and the first movement come from lines in the beginning of Unforgettable Fire.

I. Shadows Playing on the Ground:

 
II. Where has the Shadow’s Father Gone?:

 
III. The Mountain of One Thousand Good Fortunes is Ablaze!:

 
IV. In the Fallen Sun, only Shadows Remain:

 
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Concerto for Musician

Sunday, May 9th, 2004

     I finished writing a new guided improvisation orchestra piece called Concerto for Musician. Concerto for Musician, what does that mean? Unlike traditional concerto, which are usually for a particular instrument, Concerto for Musician is for a multi-instrumentalist. The first movement is for a soprano instrument, then second movement is for an alto instrument and the last movement is for a bass instrument. At the world premiere the “musician” was me, the composer. I played the first movement on flute, then second movement on alto saxophone and the third moment on bassoon.

     Each movement has a feeling or sound, which is reflected in the movement’s title. The first movement is entitled: Cosmological. This movement has a vast sound with flares of energy and twinkling. The first movement tapers in to the second movement, which is entitled: Mechanical. This movement has a fast pulse and sounds like many mechanisms working at once. Aqualogical is the title of the third movement, which has an organic and liquid sound. One can hear the depths and breadth of the ocean in this movement.

    Concerto for Musician uses an unusual compositional technique: guided improvisation. As apposed to free improvisation where everyone does what ever they hear or see fit during the music, guided improvisation uses some rules to limited the sounds and directions so the composer can get the sound and feeling he is after. Standard Jazz music could be considered guide improvisation, but the “rules” in Concerto for Musician are different then the rules of Jazz music. Some of the techniques used in this work are based on Larry Ochs’ “Radar” techniques. The soloist follows some rules as well, but is basically aloud to do want he/she wants. The soloist is encourage to use extend techniques like multi-phonics (playing more then one note at a time) and sounds on the instruments that are appropriate to the movement. The SFCCO premiered this piece (Program Notes) on May 9th, this performance would not be possible if it was not for the Subito grant I was awarded from the American Composers Forum.
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