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String Trio
2022
Cello
Viola
Violin
- Program Notes
- This open-form work for string trio explores structuring stochastic music as visual programming. Examining Pierre Boulez’s comments on John Cage depicting him as a “performing monkey”, the composition of this piece was informed by experiences undertaken in the 60s in which gorillas were taught American Sign Language. The gorillas learned to perform the gestures, managed to express their thoughts and feelings through them and stunningly went on to react not only to the signs done by their trainers but also to spoken words. This meant they were not just following a trained cue but actually understanding meanings and aural elements of language. Presented as a board-game, the score offers a structure for the performers to navigate an aleatory form upon playing by way of making audible decisions and listening to each other’s choices and modes of playing, challenging the boundaries between music-making and gaming as well as between animals, humans and machines.
- Recording Notes
- This work was first performed and recorded by Soohyun April Jang, Mac Waters and Kirke Gross at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse 2023.
- Performer Credits
- Violin: Soohyun April Jang Viola: Mac Waters Cello: Kirke Gross