Innova 640

Barry Schrader

Beyond

First Spring

While composing Fallen Sparrow for violin and electro-acoustic music, I

decided that I liked the eam accompaniment to the first movement so much that

I made a sand-alone studio piece from it. The concept of First Spring stems

from imagining what the dying sparrow of the larger work’s title might

recall in its last moments of life about experiencing its first spring when

life in all of its myriad forms fills the landscape with sights and sounds

that are new and wondrous to the young bird.

Beyond

Beyond was composed in 1992 at the Center for Research in Electronic Art

Technology (CREATE), in the Department of Music, University of California

at Santa Barbara, using the Waveframe workstation. The source materials for

the work are the sounds of waterphones and a harpsichord. This is, to date,

my only completely concrète work, but it still reflects my interest in the

creation and development of timbres in a way very similar to the other works

on this CD which use only electronically generated sound material.

Waterphones are wonderful instruments created by Richard Waters in 1968, and

described by him as somewhat of a combination of “…a Tibetan Water Drum, an

African Kalimba (thumb piano) and a 16th century Peg or Nail Violin.” He

further describes them as “…one-of-a-kind, acoustic, tonal-friction

instruments that utilize water in the interior of their resonators to bend

tones and create water echoes.” Each waterphone is custom made and they

range in size from small to very large. The sounds of waterphones have been

described as similar to whales or voices from space. In Beyond, I’ve used a

variety of computer-manipulated waterphone samples to create the material

for the piece. For more information on waterphones and the work of Richard

Waters, go to <http://www.richardawaters.com/waterphone/>.

Duke’s Tune

Duke is the artist-in-residence at Lil Orphan Hammies, a shelter for

potbellied pigs in Solvang, California operated by Susan Parkinson. Duke is

multitalented, and performs on keyboards, violin, guitar, and the xylophone.

He is also an accomplished painter, and enjoys golf and basketball. In his

spare time, he searches for leftover morsels in the other pigs’ food dishes.

Duke’s Tune uses a theme Duke composed on the xylophone. This is, I believe,

the first work of music based on a tune invented by a pig. Duke has

graciously given me permission to use his composition as the basis for this

piece. To see Duke’s home and hear his original performance, go to

<http://www.lilorphanhammies.com/>.

Death

And there was silence.

And again we asked the question.

And the answer came: You believe that by asking questions you will receive

answers. But often answers are not understood; they merely cause more

questions. And many enigmas have no solutions. But I shall entertain three

final questions from you, and if you do not understand my answers I shall

clarify nothing, for I shall not be here.

And we asked: What leads to death?

And the answer came: Life leads to death. For everything that lives must

die. That you can escape death is an illusion. The entrances to death are

many and disparate. That you have control over how you meet death is also an

illusion. For death may come quickly or slowly. But often, as you are

converted to death, for there is no greater transformation than from life to

death, you will recall your life and how it has led you to this final moment.

And we asked: What is death?

And the answer came: Death is the absence of life. As the point of living is

to live, so the point of dying is to die. Yet, as life has its stages, so

does death, and the colonies of living things that constitute you subside

each in their own fashion until all have passed. When this is done, you are

complete and at one with the universe.

And we asked: What is after death?

And the answer came: After death is nothing. After death is everything.

After death is the realm where all hopes and fears collide and dissolve. For

in disappearance there is absorption, and in dissipation there is renewal.

But the fate of everything is nothing, and in nothing is everything.

And we asked: What does this mean?

And there was silence.