Ross Feller

XX/Winds ross feller

(1) Triple Threat (1994, rev. 2006) for three soloists and an ensemble of nine 7:29 Oberlin Conservatory Contemporary Music Ensemble Tim Weiss, director

(2) Still Adrift (2013) for piano and electroacoustic sound 7:16 Adam Tendler, piano

(3) Bypassing the Ogre (2006) for solo trumpet 5:06 Peter Evans, trumpet

(4) Disjecta (2006) for percussion ensemble 14:10 x

Oberlin Percussion Group /winds Michael Rosen, director

(5) Sfumato (2006) for violin, bass clarinet, and electroacoustic sound 9:27 Ensemble Luna Nova Helen Kim, violin Ted Gurch, bass clarinet

(6) Retracing (2009) for violin and electroacoustic sound 8:37 Dorothy Martirano, violin

(7) Glossolalia (2002) for solo cello 6:58 Franklin Cox, cello

(8) X/Winds (2008) for symphonic wind ensemble 11:02 Oberlin Conservatory Wind Ensemble Tim Weiss, director

Total: 70:06 innova 911

© Ross Feller. All Rights Reserved, 2017. innova® Recordings is the label of the American Composers Forum. www.innova.mu www.rossfeller.com The work on this album was composed over a productive period of two decades. Taken as a whole, one might notice certain consistencies or inconsistencies. If there is a throughline, an Ari- adne’s thread, found in these eight works, it might have to do with marginal expression, resonance, or throny, angular gestures that map out a registral terrain. Each piece attempts to challenge at least one compositional given or supposition, exploring the questions raised more so than posit- ing stable answers.

I have been fortunate to have worked with some very fine ensembles, performers, and soloists, and wish to thank them all for tackling often challenging and difficult work. I hope that they found the effort to be engaging and rewarding. And I hope that you, listener, will find that your time was worthwhile, perhaps inspiring you to posit or create as you see fit.

One of my teachers once asked me a provocative question that seems even more relevant today than ever before: So much music has been written and is currently being written, why write any more? If the pieces on this disc supply, at the very least, provisional answers to this question, I will view my mission as the composer of these works, to be a success.

– Ross Feller THE MUSIC OF ROSS FELLER But of course there’s a stumbling block, in By Robert Carl that one aspect of modernism, serialism (and in particular integral or total serial- The music of Ross Feller confronts head- ism) hijacked the movement, at least in on a question that resonates from the the U.S.A. Followers of Arnold Schoen- 20th century into this one, a question berg and Anton von Webern (interest- that all composers confront, whether di- ingly, less so for Alban Berg) gained posi- rectly or not. What to do with modern- tions of power and influence, especially ism? That may seem dated or even irrel- in educational institutions and tended to evant, but really it’s not. Even though we enforce a narrow interpretation of the now live in an age of unimaginable plural- term. And younger composers felt in- ism, and though the wave of Postmodern- creasingly alienated from what seemed a ism has swept away the homogeneity and conservative stance (it was the 60s and orthodoxy of High Modernism, especially 70s after all). This is ironic, as modern- as practiced after the Second World war, ism was launched as a radical and revo- any composer worth her or his salt needs lutionary movement. But its increasingly to still consider their relationship to the “establishmentarian” vibe undercut those enormous treasure-house of inventive, roots. As a consequence, new counter- boundary-breaking techniques and aes- forces, in the guise of minimalism, neo-ro- thetics that characterized the entire cen- manticism, eclectic postmodernism, and tury before. This was a no-holds-barred even serialism’s cousin, experimentalism, flowering, a period which may well go all rose up to challenge the hegemony. As down as one of the most exciting and fer- a result, modernism got tarred and feath- tile of Western civilization so far. To deny ered in the eyes of composers, perform- its gifts is to cut oneself off from a fount of ers, critics, and above all the audience— tools and ideas that liberate the creative which was mostly looking for any excuse imagination to go wherever it desires. to avoid it and follow far less challenging fare.

And so we reach this moment, and the is- This opening essay won’t attempt a de- sue with which a composer such as Feller tailed exegesis of the pieces, or even has to grapple­—if you want to make mu- describe all of them: the composer, ap- sic that’s fresh and challenging, that still propriately, has provided detailed notes breaks through limits, how do you do it? for that purpose. Rather I want to set the How do you satisfy your curiosity and per- stage for how to approach and appreci- haps engage audiences that aren’t expe- ate this music. And I want to show how rienced with advanced art, but also aren’t listeners from a variety of backgrounds afraid of having their ears stretched? can engage with Feller’s work, shedding any inhibitions that might result from its Feller represents an answer to the chal- initial unfamiliarity. lenge that comes from several different angles. But the one we should emphasize From the outset, Feller sees his music from the outset is that he’s a performer, as an unapologetic field of play with im- a virtuosic saxophonist, and so is deeply portant intellectual forces of our time. engaged with music in a visceral way. He Science in the form of new physics and understands and appreciates the physi- genetic biology, and philosophy embod- cality of making it. Add to this his love ied in poststructuralist thought are just of, and commitment to, improvisation in some of the influences that shape his a host of styles and media, the immersion work. We’ll get to the actual sound in a in the performative moment, and the ex- moment, but it’s important to realize that perience of risk in every split-second de- the flow of Feller’s music doesn’t conform cision. If he asks performers to perform to the usual narrative and architectural unusual tasks, make sounds outside their structures of the Western classical tra- traditional practice, it’s because he’s been dition. Triple Threat is based on ideas of there. So they can trust the demands he rupture as a way to paradoxically create places upon them, and audiences should a strongly sensed form. And in X/Winds trust the authenticity of the art with which the music suddenly relaxes and opens he confronts them. into a single giant exhalation over its final three minutes, a gesture that suddenly Ferneyhough and Giacinto Scelsi. From casts all that occurred before in a new the former (whom Feller has studied ex- light. The idea that break and deteriora- tensively) one finds the intellectual quest tion can be as much a part an artwork as that takes the music in new formal direc- unity and growth is new, yet it resonates tions; from the latter comes the world of with so much we experience and now dis- pulsing and morphing sounds. cover in the world. And with sound comes silence. As John From the deep structure of the piece to Cage posited at the very outset of his ca- the sonic surface, we move appropriately reer, they are two sides of the same coin, from the abstract to the profoundly con- sharing time in common. And Cage also crete. Feller sees sound itself as a primary proved that silence is never truly silent, material of his music, no matter how rig- there is always something there in what orously he structures pitch and rhythm. we only think is aurally empty. The way Sound is bent and smeared, layers bleed the music pauses or seems to stop can into one another and then detach. Instru- create an entirely different set of expec- ments overlap and create morphing me- tations for us listeners than the norm. Still ta-instruments. All this is guided both by Adrift projects this concept beautifully, a scrupulous ear and by the metaphysical as the often blank backdrop allows the programs animating the flow. For exam- smallest sounds and gestures to suddenly resonate. ple, in Disjecta, the transitions from one timbral model to another are handled so And tied to this love of musical space, that one senses color is the medium by opened up by silence, is also the use of which modulations occur, rather than har- electroacoustic resources. Several of mony (appropriate when one has as many these works use technology, but Feller is unpitched instruments in the ensemble a very savvy composer who uses it only as is the case here). I find myself think- as much as needed. Often the effects are ing of two composers, quite different, yet quite subtle, but their impact is vast. Re- both “maverick late modernists”: Brian turning to Still Adrift, the backdrop of faint harmonics creates a dreamlike aura vocal interjections and noises, carefully around the live instrument. It is almost woven into the overall fabric. It’s a wild as though the piece is a series of frag- ride, and I think any listener will be happy ments of another piece, already finished, to join it. which we are now resurrecting in our memory. Or take Sfumato: when I first lis- These are not the usual moves of Big tened to the piece I assumed there was Bad Modernism. Improvisation? Electro- also a chamber ensemble accompanying acoustic music that doesn’t overwhelm the two soloists. No, it’s the fixed media, us with notes, or explanations of complex whose gentle presence saturates musical algorithms? Sudden spacious openings space, opens it up, and gives the piece in the midst of chaos? A formal dialec- unexpected breadth. tic that roams beyond hermetic, self-en- closed structures, taking in a world of And finally, returning to Feller’s perform- ideas and even embracing contradiction ing practice, there is the spirit of improvi- and paradox? Feller proves that the idea sation. Examining the scores as I prepared of exploring new worlds, of breaking this essay, I was struck by how almost all molds isn’t dead at all. Modernism for him the pieces are precisely notated. But the is a tradition of freedom and experiment, spirit of improvisation, of the crazy, sur- mixed with an intellectual armature of prising, even shocking turn, animates so rigor and paradox. For listeners who have much of this music, and gives it a sense grown up with indie rock, free improv, in- of exhilarating freedom. Sfumato and Re- dustrial noise, this will be familiar terrain. tracing each evoke this risk-taking cre- Likewise those who like their art with a ative frenzy. And for me the greatest ex- dash of conceptualism and philosophy ample of all is Bypassing the Ogre. A solo will find plenty to satisfy their appetite. trumpet piece is one of the hardest to Dig in. pull off. One can of course rely on volume, fanfares, and other martial gestures. But – Robert Carl is chair of the composition program at the Hartt School, University of Hartford, Feller instead creates a far wider sound and the author of Terry Riley’s In C. spectrum to explore, one that involves PROGRAM NOTES I consider this piece to be one of my earliest pivotal works. It explores a musi- b Triple Threat for B clarinet, trumpet, cal terrain endowed with a series of op- and violin soloists, and nine instruments posed multiplicities, featuring eclectic, was composed by mapping labyrinth and borderline materials and states in which meander patterns onto various musical the soloists and various ensemble con- parameters. Gilles Deleuze’s and Felix stellations often compete for the listen- Guattari’s three fractured lines (break, er’s attention. Some of the materials are crack, and rupture), which they conceived deliberately obscured with masking tech- in their book A Thousand Plateaus (in niques such as pitch and timbral overlap- reference to Pierre Boulez’s smooth and ping, while others achieve similar results striated spaces) were employed in order through sheer brute force. to disturb the mappings. Triple Threat re- quires a high level of instrumental tech- Triple Threat begins with several chords nique, especially in the solo parts which sharply attacked in an unpredictable were written especially for three maver- manner. Each chord is comprised of spe- ick, virtuoso performers living in Urbana, cific textural densities and ensemble Illinois: clarinetist Paul Zonn, trumpeter combinations that are reused and con- Ray Sasaki, and violinist Dorothy Marti- tinually realigned throughout the piece. rano. The two percussion parts include Other material trajectories that are initi- a jazz/rock set player pitted against an ated in the first section include the op- orchestral percussionist, both inspired position of sustained chords against un- by the work of Frank Zappa. Shortly af- stable constellations of marcato material, ter beginning this piece, Paul Zonn was the layering and stratification of disparate diagnosed with a fatal illness that even- textures, and rapid timbral shifts. The two tually took his life in 2000. At the time I percussionists begin to battle each other, could not imagine this composition with- while also mischievously collaborating in out Paul’s participation. Hence, it was not a combined effort to dominate the solo- performed until 2006, after some revi- ists at several important junctures. In the sion. second section the texture thins out leav- Still Adrift was commissioned and ing the soloists by themselves. Eventu- premiered by New York City based pia- ally temporary alliances are formed that nist Adam Tendler for his 2013 concert culminate in an all-out, string section at Roulette in Brooklyn, New York. This barrage accompanied by soft sustains in piece includes a fixed, electroacous- the winds. The percussion and brass re- tic part that serves to amplify the live enter, providing additional layers of mate- piano’s resonance, and was constructed rial that set-up a short time-warp section from resynthesized samples of the piano. without strings, with the clarinet as solo- Standard processing techniques were ap- ist. The next section reuses introductory plied in order to boost or attenuate vari- material but in a diffused and fragment- ous frequency formants, and to suggest ed manner, the instability of which is fol- the sense of a virtual acoustic space. At lowed by a spectrum of pulsed patterns times during the piece the performer is from highly motoric to the most chaotic, asked to negotiate idiosyncratic physical in a short span of time. This, in turn, is cut gestures that can only be realized on the short in order to feature the three solo- piano. The title refers to those uneasy ists in simultaneous solos. The rest of the times in life when one’s moorings become ensemble re-emerges first as background undone, casting adrift the senses of se- and then instigates a serious of kaleido- curity and prediction, and the impression scopic layers that rapidly shift from one of temporal suspension or stillness that instrumental combination to the next by can accompany the perception of unrav- the beginning of the last section. Two- elment. thirds of the ensemble becomes briefly fixated upon one pitch-class, which is Bypassing the Ogre was written for the passed around like a trophy. The percus- New York City trumpeter Peter Evans. sionists clamor to have the last say in a Many of the gestures employed in this short dueling barrage but are rapidly cut piece are extensions of those developed off by the last tutti chord, which is itself by virtuoso trumpet improvisers such as dispatched by one of the percussionists. Mr. Evans. In addition to traditional ap- proaches to pitch production, the trum- five parts are separated into collaborating pet is used as a resonator for vocal and air and competing pairs, and a lone performer stream sounds, some of which intentional- who occupies the spatial, if not the axial, ly target various thresholds of expression center of the piece. This work is dedicated and perception. The piece is unencum- to Michael Rosen and the Oberlin Percus- bered by bar lines in order to gain maxi- sion Group. mum fluidity and some decisions of pac- ing are left up to the player. The gestural Sfumato (from the Italian term sfumare, materials oscillate between specific and meaning “to tone down” or “to evapo- indeterminate pitches and rhythms that rate like smoke) was inspired by a paint- take place within given durations, or as or- ing technique used by Leonardo da Vinci namental figures. and others, to make subtle, seamless vari- ations between contrasting areas of light Disjecta is the term Samuel Beckett used and dark. The smoke-like fuzziness of this to describe a collection of his miscella- effect decreases the sense that a still im- neous, peripheral, and fragmentary works. age is entirely still. Hence, there is a vague My percussion quintet began life as an un- sense of movement. My utilization of this finished solo written for Chicago-based technique was attempted through the use percussionist Steven Butters. Materials of common tones, shared pitch spaces were extracted from this torso that ulti- (enhanced and made fuzzier by the use mately became part of ten textural ‘fields’ of microtones), timbral modifications, and used in the quintet. I worked with the idea resonance reinforcement largely provided of material tracers that appear, or disap- by the electroacoustic accompaniment, pear, as they modify and/or mask reso- which texturally and timbrally frames the nance. This piece also seeks to explore live instruments. the pathways created by independent rhythmic trajectories that evolve organi- Retracing exists in two versions: a collab- cally, even as they are harnessed, or fun- orative work for solo dancer, violin, elec- nelled, by large-scale formal concerns. The troacoustic sound, and textiles, and a concert work for solo violinist and elec- Unfettered, it floats above recognition to troacoustic sound. Retracing was origi- an Other, sacred discovery. The gift of ec- nally created for the DanceWorks series static tongues offered as a piece of mu- at the Cleveland Public Theatre. It was sic. Edification through utter gibberish. choreographed by Kora Radella, and per- The ancient Israelites did it. The ancient formed by dancer Julie Brodie and violin- Greeks did it. So too the Quakers, Shak- ist Dorothy Martirano, along with textiles ers, Jansenists, and the Methodists. by Rebecca Cross. I worked closely with the choreographer in an effort to produce X/Winds is cast in a single-movement a truly collaborative piece. The violinist form, with a few notable pauses and hic- performs gestural materials that support, cups. It is a celebration of life through a enhance, and serve as counterpoint to web of ecstatic, textural densities. The the dancer’s movements. As I composed opening presents a spectral gesture that the violin part I thought about developing quickly dissolves into a series of dialecti- analogous sounds to movement concepts cally related materials. In the first section, such as: sweep, chop, pendulum, radiate, stable elements are continually, yet un- and fall. Additionally, the way the textiles predictably, accosted by unbalanced frag- were illuminated influenced my approach ments crying out for change. The engage- to dynamic-dependent resonance. The ment with peripheral or marginal materials electroacoustic part primarily serves to is no mere fetishization, but an essential, reinforce various harmonics found in the human articulation of a multitude of con- violin part, as well as to assist with spatial- tradictory (eternally repeating outside- ization and depth effects. time) impulses. The fracture, or crack, that initializes the first section throws out Commissioned by Craig Hultgren, Glos- splintered possibilities in many directions solalia suggests the hazards of hap at once. One particularly salient exam- gibberish and language-like music. The ple, that sets the stage for the rest of the utterance itself is cut loose from its ball- piece, occurs immediately after the initial and-chain relationship to the intelligible. tutti chord, as the piano becomes ensnared in a series of expand- its flow. Conflicts between the various ing and contracting nets of pitches and contradictory impulses build to a fren- rhythms, separated into distinct registral zy by the end of the third section. As if bandwidths. At the same time, the other under intense magnification, the fourth instruments trace their own sonic decays section takes up the resonant trails from up to, and eventually beyond, the perme- the preceding section, but close-up, in an able border between pitch and timbre. extremely time-expanded form. In a way The piano’s non- accompanimental ac- the structural trajectories have become companiment to the ensembles collec- so entangled in what might be called the tive decay is further developed in each forsaken path pile-up, that the piece’s for- principle part’s engagement with the ward momentum almost grinds to a halt, same set of constraints. This continues almost, but not quite. And this makes all into the second section, but is fleshed the difference. One might notice many out with additional entanglements and opportunities for mayhem in this section. derailments. Small instrumental groups We’re left with a vision of how things could cluster together in brief, short-lived alli- be. Gasping for air, the sparrow is blown ances. Some are in rhythmic unison, oth- backward into the future (like Klee’s an- ers hocket in complex tuplet relation- gel), untranslatably insisting on escaping ships. Eventually, toward the middle of from an historical straitjacket - a parable the second section, fourteen instruments for our times, no? drop out leaving an unlikely quartet that features mythical, separate-but-equal approaches to material elaboration. The third section begins in marked contrast. The top winds sound out different con- tour trajectories, yet they are similarly shut down by material bottlenecks that hold up the structural progress of the piece, while simultaneously redirecting BIOGRAPHY including the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) and an equally thriving new music scene, in- cluding New Music Chicago. While still in high school Feller began to systematically explore the boundaries of his instrument through improvisation, and experiment with various compositional techniques. He co-founded the Chicago-based, avant- garde, jazz-rock ensemble Dot Dot Dot, and later, Double Edge Dance with cho- reographer Kora Radella.

Feller holds DMA and MM degrees in Composition and Theory from the Uni- versity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with Salvatore Marti- rano, Morgan Powell, and Paul Zonn, and Ross Feller is an accomplished compos- a BM in Composition from the American er, theorist, saxophonist, improviser, and Conservatory of Music, Chicago, where educator. Over the past twenty years he he studied with Darleen Cowles. Cur- has developed a unique musical vocabu- rently, he teaches composition, theory, lary that features raw, ecstatic layers of and computer music at Kenyon College material that percolate with refined, vir- in Gambier, Ohio, and has also taught at tuosic gestures, often integrated with the Oberlin College Conservatory of Mu- performance gestures. Feller grew up sic, Georgia College and State University, near Chicago, where he came into con- and at the University of Illinois at Urbana- tact with composers and performers Champaign. from a thriving avant-garde jazz scene, Feller’s awards and honors include the York City), Roulette (Brooklyn), De Ijs- Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence breker (Amsterdam), Spoleto (Charles- Award for Composition, ASCAP Young ton, South Carolina), Eyedrum (Atlanta), Composer’s Competition, Gaudeamus Krannert Center (Urbana), Presser Recit- Foundation International Composer’s al Hall (Philadelphia) Park West (Chicago), Competition, and Bent Frequency’s In- Preston Bradley Hall (Chicago), Cleveland ternational Call for Scores. He has re- Public Theatre, Gund Gallery (Gambier, ceived commissions and performances Ohio), Green Mill (Chicago), Spectrum by ensembles including the Oberlin (New York City), Plateau (Brussels) and at Conservatory Contemporary Music En- many national and international festivals, semble, Oberlin Percussion Group, Prism conferences, and universities. Recent, Saxophone Quartet, Aurelia Saxophone evening-length performances of his com- Quartet, Goliard Ensemble, Ensemble positions have taken place at Spectrum Luna Nova, International Contemporary and Roulette. Ensemble (ICE), Kenyon College Sym- phonic Wind Ensemble, members of the Feller’s work has been written about in Cleveland Orchestra and the Atlanta Sym- Time Out New York, The Cleveland Plain phony Orchestra, and performers such Dealer, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, as saxophonist Taimur Sullivan, trumpet- and Wall Street Journal. Recordings of his ers Peter Evans and Stephanie Richards, music are available on New Dynamic Re- trombonist Steven Parker, violinist Doro- cords, Athena Records, and UIUC Experi- thy Martirano, ‘cellists Franklin Cox and mental Music Studios. In 2015 he and fel- Craig Hultgren, double bassist Michael low saxophonist Frank Mauceri released Cameron, guitarist Nick Didkovsky, and a collaborative cd entitled Chiasmus. For pianists Cory Smythe and Adam Tendler. more information visit: www.rossfeller.com. Feller’s work has been performed throughout the U.S.A. and in Europe at venues including Symphony Space (New ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Bio photograph: Marcella Hackbardt Recording Engineer for Tracks 1, 4, & 8: This disc was funded in part by a Kenyon Paul Eachus College Faculty Development Grant and an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excel- Tracks 1, 4 and 8 recorded at Warner lence Award in Composition. Concert Hall, Oberlin, Ohio. Tracks 2 and 3 recorded at Roulette, Special thanks to all the performers, Rob- Brooklyn, New York. ert Carl, Cevie Dubesky, Hal Rammel, Track 5 recorded at John M. Tiedtke Tim Weiss, Michael Rosen, Jim Staley, Concert Hall, Winter Park, Florida. Marcella Hackbardt, Paul Eachus, Ober- Track 6 recorded in Champaign, Illinois. lin Conservatory of Music, Kenyon Col- Track 7 recorded in Muncie, Indiana. lege, and the Ohio Arts Council. Mastered by Greg Reierson at Rare Form. Cover Artwork: “Textural Elisions” by Cevie Dubesky Innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation. Additional Artwork: “The Wind Turns a Philip Blackburn, director, design Corner” by Hal Rammel Chris Campbell, operations director Steve McPherson, publicist