Navigation Without Numbers

Navigation Without Numbers

Description: 
A blend of two worlds
Composers: 
George Hurd
Performers: 
Hurd Ensemble
George Hurd
Carla Kihlstedt
Solenn Seguillon
Jacob Hansen-Joseph
Erin Wang
Ari Gorman
Elyse Weakley
Anton Estaniel
Annie Phillips
Adam Murray
Andrew Mcguire
Anna Singer
Joseph Voves
Theresa Au-Stephen
Jason Hollowed
Anna Steinhoff
Alana Grelyak
Stephanie Wallace
Katie Weigman
Catalog Number: 
#937
Genre: 
new classical
new music
electronic
Collection: 
chamber
Minimalism
music for dance
soundtrack
Location: 

San Francisco, CA

Price: 
$15.00
Release Date: 
Feb 26, 2016
Liner Notes: 
View
1 CD
George Hurd: Navigation Without NumbersiTunes Artist's PageiTunes Album Page
Song TitleTimePrice
1.Four Went Down05:59$0.99
2.Pauca04:02$0.99
3.The Great Magnet00:21$0.99
4.Navigation Without Numbers04:51$0.99
5.Fulcrum03:05$0.99
6.Flux03:09$0.99
7.Locked in Place04:19$0.99
8.Tethering Blind04:01$0.99
9.Tower of Babel01:04$0.99
10.Hummingbird05:27$0.99
11.All Falling Apart02:08$0.99
One Sheet: 

George Hurd is a San Francisco-based composer whose work has focused on chamber music, electronic music, and the fascinating world where they intersect. Upon moving to the Bay Area in 2007, he formed The Hurd Ensemble, an electro-acoustic chamber group made up of some of the Bay Area’s best musicians, dedicated to performing his compositions for small-to-medium chamber ensemble and electronics. His work often fixates on the role of memory in music, using electronic sounds that are made entirely by him, recorded on his travels from the past 15 years, each encapsulating a memory from the place and time they were recorded. His first album, Navigation Without Numbers, features a recent composition of the same name for acclaimed violinist Carla Kihlstedt.

Focused on unifying the worlds of electronic and classical music, all Hurd Ensemble compositions are written for string quartet (violin, viola, cello, upright bass), piano and electronics (as well as frequent use of vibraphone, bass clarinets, harp and steel pans), and is meticulously bound together with digitally-arranged sounds collected from Hurd’s travels. The electronics are layered so as to create textures that complement the acoustic instruments, giving rise to a sound that is extremely organic despite its partially digital origins. Accessible and daring, its percussive yet lyrical qualities make it at home in both concert halls and nightclubs.

 

Reviews: 

The Hurd Ensemble is the perfect blend of electronic and classical. Sometimes crunchy, sometimes haunting, always surprising, The Hurd Ensemble will please anyone who is a fan of music and appreciates different genres.“  – Tony DuShane | SF Gate

“George and I share a passion for electro-acoustic classical music, and I have very much enjoyed the powerful and unique works he has created with his own ensemble. These pieces integrate electronic sounds and classical instruments in creative and visceral ways. The fact that George has created such interesting music while also finding creative outlets and performance spaces for his ensemble speaks volumes about his impact on San Francisco’s “post-classical” scene.” –  Mason Bates | Kennedy Center Artist-in-Residence; former Chicago Symphony Orchestra Mead Composer-in-Residence 

“Hurd’s music organically blends classical-style composition with the timbres and grooves of rock, jazz, and world music. It’s a natural, clearly articulated sound that encapsulates the “in-between genres” zone that Switchboard [Music Festival] seeks to explore.” – Matthew Cmiel | San Francisco Classical Voice

ALL ABOUT JAZZ
"Hurd treats electronics as organic components of the overall interpretation of his compositions. There are points where the electronic beat is primal in the face of chamber style strings and the contrast is riveting. Hurd successfully closes any preconceived gaps between electronics and traditionally composed music and what the listener is left with is sometimes warm, sometimes angular but always accessible. Overall, a captivating first effort, not confined by any of the many micro-genres in play." [FULL ARTICLE]
Karl Ackermann