cornelius dufallo violin & electronics innova 831 1. Cornelius Dufallo: Violin Loop I 3:31 2. John King: Prima Volta 7:35 3. Joan Jeanrenaud: Empty Infinity 4:50 4. Huang Ruo: Four Fragments 13:01 5: Vijay Iyer: playlist one (resonance 6:41 6: Cornelius Dufallo: Violin Loop V 4:24 John Luther Adams: Three High Places 7. Above Sunset Pass 3:59 8. The Wind at Maclaren Summit 3:49 9. Looking Toward Hope 4:20 10: Kenji Bunch: Until Next Time 5:23 57:37 I began the concert series Journaling in 2009 to document my work with extraordinary living composers while also creating a repertoire of twenty-first century violin music. The music on this disc, all drawn from the Journaling programs, was recorded here for the first time. I collaborated with each of the represented composers between 1996 and 2009, through my work in the Flux Quartet, Ne(x)tworks, and ETHEL. John King: Prima Volta John King has been a friend and colleague since 2006, when I began performing his string quartets with Ethel. Prima Volta is a contemporary virtuoso piece for violin and laptop computer that playfully mixes contemporary soundscapes and Paganini-like pyrotechnical gestures. John writes: “Prima Volta was written for Cornelius Dufallo in January 2011. I wanted to write a piece that would allow the performer to feel like every performance was a ‘first experience’ with the music. There are elements of the score that are fixed, but the computer, using chance-determined processes, is always combining the live and electronic sounds in new and spontaneous ways.” Joan Jeanrenaud: Empty Infinity I had the pleasure of meeting Joan Jeanrenaud, former cellist of the Kronos Quartet, in 2009, while performing in California. Kronos, and Joan in particular, were great sources of inspiration to me as a student. After hearing her strikingly beautiful CD of original music, Strange Toys (2008), I asked her if she would write a piece for solo violin and digital loops. In Empty Infinity (2010) Joan employs overlapping loops of various lengths and time signatures to evoke a sense of floating through the infinite cosmos. Huang Ruo: Four Fragments To explain his compositional approach, Huang Ruo coined the term "dimensionalism," which he describes as an organic integration of Chinese folk, Western avant-garde, rock, and jazz. Of Four Fragments (2006) he writes: “When I first heard the sound of a violin, I couldn’t help but think of the Chinese two-string fiddle. To me, violin is one of the Western instruments that shares a close connection to the Eastern instrumental sound-world I grew up with. The ‘four fragments’ are four reflections from my memory, from my living and traveling through time and space. In this piece I am playing with the idea of re-interpreting my abstract memories.” I have worked with Huang Ruo since 2008, and I continue to enjoy his inventiveness and extreme emotional expression. Vijay Iyer: Playlist One (Resonance) My work with ETHEL first brought me into contact with the pianist and composer Vijay Iyer in 2008. I was intrigued by the unusual rhythmic intricacies and melodic beauty of his composition and improvisation. playlist one (resonance), composed specifically for the Journaling series in 2010, alludes to the tradition of virtuoso variations, complete with fiendishly difficult passages of harmonics, double stops and left-hand pizzicato, while also creating a unique contemporary sound world. John Luther Adams: Three High Places Three High Places was composed in 2007 and dedicated to the memory of Gordon Wright. The composer writes: “Gordon Wright was the friend of a lifetime. For thirty years Gordon and I shared our two greatest passions: music and Alaska. Gordon was my musical collaborator, my next-door neighbor, my fellow environmentalist, and my camping buddy. These miniatures are musical sketches of three moments and places in our friendship.” I first worked with John Luther Adams in 2001, when I was a member of the Flux Quartet. Since that time I have admired the powerful simplicity of his approach. Kenji Bunch: Until Next Time Kenji Bunch and I have collaborated since 1996 — first in the Flux Quartet, and then in Ne(x)tworks. Kenji’s artistry, as a composer and as a violist, demonstrates an unusually elegant blend of traditional and avant-garde. Until Next Time, composed for Journaling in 2010, calls for a special string tuning sometimes found in old fiddle music (C# - F# - C# - F#). This tuning, combined with Kenji’s outstanding melodic abilities, evokes a touching sense of nostalgia. Kenji writes: “I like the implied hopefulness of the phrase ‘until next time,’ in spite of the bittersweet suggestion of a farewell. This led me to create the work in the character of an old Scottish aire for solo fiddle. In terms of performance, the title is a metaphor for the short lifespan of a live performance, and how each piece of music only comes to life briefly in that moment, laying dormant until the next one.” Cornelius Dufallo: Violin Loops I have also included two of my own pieces on this disc: Violin Loop I and Violin Loop V (2010). I am dedicating each of these to the artists who inspired them: Osvaldo Golijov and Jean Luc Ponty, respectively. Thank you for listening! — Cornelius Dufallo Cornelius Dufallo: CBD Music Publishing, Inc. (ASCAP) 2010 www.corneliusdufallo.com John King: Spherical Music Publishing, Inc (BMI) 2011 www.johnkingmusic.com Joan Jeanrenaud: Deconet Music (BMI) 2010 www.jjcello.org Huang Ruo: Huang Ruo Publishing and Recording Company (ASCAP) 2006 www.huangruo.com Vijay Iyer: Multiplicity Music (SESAC) 2010 www.vijay-iyer.com John Luther Adams: Taiga Press (BMI) 2007 distributor is Theodore Front Musical Literature (www.tfront.com). www.johnlutheradams.com Kenji Bunch: Kenji Bunch Music Publishing (ASCAP) 2010 www.kenjibunch.com Cornelius Dufallo, violin and electronics Produced by Cornelius Dufallo Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jody Elff Artwork © Nana Deleplanque. All rights reserved. Photo © Jill Steinberg. All rights reserved. Made possible by a grant from CBD Music, Inc. innova is supported by an endowment from the McKnight Foundation. Philip Blackburn: director, design Chris Campbell: operations manager www.innova.mu