for cello and two-channel audio
Continuance is the third in a series of pieces for live instrument and two-channel audio (fixed media) in which the audio part is entirely composed of samples of the live instrumentalist’s playing. It is thus a dialog between a cellist and her recorded image, akin to the way we “overhear” and respond to our own fanciful or even overwhelming thoughts. The piece is a single movement in which a slow and expressive line for the cello — sometimes alone and sometimes interacting with the audio part — is repeatedly intercut with episodes of rhythmically varied pizzicato. The piece was written in memory of Richard Evans, with thanks to Melissa Dibble, and it is dedicated to the wonderful cellist Caroline Stinson, who commissioned it, and who generously played the cello samples. They were recorded by Ryan Streber at Oktaven audiO.
date: 2023
duration: 12:00
premiere: Mar 3, 2024, Caroline Stinson, Singing Bodies, Baldwin Auditorium, Duke University.