On the Air (2007)
a radiophonic work for soprano/alto saxophone and musique concrete
a radiophonic work for soprano/alto saxophone and musique concrete
Performed by Owen Callahan (soprano and alto saxophones) on UStream and projected live into Center for the Arts Hall, Wesleyan University, January 25, 2012. Documentation is of the live presentation on UStream.
“On the Air” is a humorously subversive work that combines a live saxophone performance, a musique concrete track made of balloon sounds and analog radio static, and the inherent sound artifacts caused by broadcasting sound electronically. The listener is disoriented by both the source of the electronic noises (are they coming from the musique concrete or your radio/computer?) and the nature of the “musical” sounds (is that a saxophone or a balloon or something else?). The saxophone imitates the vocabulary of the balloon in both notated passages and structured improvisation, making noise musical and musical sound into noise.
On the Air was premiered by saxophonist Gitta Schaefer at the Frau Musica Nova Festival in Koeln, Germany, November 2007 and recorded for broadcast on Deutschlandfunk (German public radio). The U.S. premiere was by saxophonist Chris Kelsey at WGXC radio, Hudson, NY, September 2011. The score to On the Air is published by Material Press (Frankfurt).
“On the Air” is a humorously subversive work that combines a live saxophone performance, a musique concrete track made of balloon sounds and analog radio static, and the inherent sound artifacts caused by broadcasting sound electronically. The listener is disoriented by both the source of the electronic noises (are they coming from the musique concrete or your radio/computer?) and the nature of the “musical” sounds (is that a saxophone or a balloon or something else?). The saxophone imitates the vocabulary of the balloon in both notated passages and structured improvisation, making noise musical and musical sound into noise.
On the Air was premiered by saxophonist Gitta Schaefer at the Frau Musica Nova Festival in Koeln, Germany, November 2007 and recorded for broadcast on Deutschlandfunk (German public radio). The U.S. premiere was by saxophonist Chris Kelsey at WGXC radio, Hudson, NY, September 2011. The score to On the Air is published by Material Press (Frankfurt).