Dr. Francis Favis

Cymatics by Panayiotis Kokoras

The Ice is Talking by Vivian Fung

Rich Text Format by Phong Tran

Program notes:

Panayiotis Kokoras / Cymatics (2018) for solo cymbal.

Cymatics is an acoustic sound composition written for Portuguese percussionist Nuno Aroso. The  piece is performed with two thin long and elastic sticks on a ride cymbal with deep lathing finish. In addition, the amplification reveals deep resonant sound and rich textures. Although I notated Cymatics using the time construct by means of measures and beat subdivisions I was composing it with no time in mind. I was just aware of listening to the sound completely decoupled from time. In Cymatics I was looking for sonic models such as sweep, whoosh, tremolo, rotation, chirp, glissando, squeaky, rattle, pulse, roll, and slide.

Program Note courtesy of the composer.

Vivian Fung / The Ice is Talking (2018) for solo percussion and electronics

I grew up in Edmonton, and every year my family would vacation in the Canadian Rockies. I would greatly look forward to seeing the mountains, the majesty of the giant silhouettes, the clean, crisp air, and the proximity to nature and wildlife. I was invited back to the Banff Centre last year and decided to visit the Columbia Icefields as a bit of nostalgia for my childhood. That trip pained me deeply when I saw how much the glaciers had receded since the last time I was there, about 20 years ago. “The Ice Is Talking” is a work that is an emotional reaction to that experience.

Scored for a solo percussionist and electronics, it features the percussionist as the protagonist “playing” on a block of ice. At the start, it is a celebration of the elements, taking in the beauty of a blade gliding through ice, the taps and swishes of ice being shaped into virtuosic rhythmic patterns that speak through interjections by the performer. As the piece progresses, the piece becomes more and more violent, and the instruments reflect the rage and intensity of the protagonist, with a power drill, ice picks and stabbing motions reflecting the realization of human’s ill effects on the natural landscape. It ends with dramatic flair in the hope of raising awareness to the world around us.

Program Note courtesy of the composer

Phong Tran / Rich Text Format (2021) for Internet Web Application.

Rich Text Format is a piece that came during the COVID-19 pandemic, in a time where the desire to make music with people was strong, but circumstances prevented that from happening. When collaborating with Phong and Troika Percussion (co-commissioners) on this piece, we wanted something that could leverage Phong’s interests in sound design and visuals, while also creating a work that anyone could access and perform with a varied number of people. Ultimately, this led to the piece being accessible via any web browser. Anybody can fire up the website and play around with it, and the work utilizes this sonic and visual sandbox to craft a colorful narrative experience.

Program note by Francis Favis