One of the most noble functions of art lies in its capacity to amaze us, to generate a deep sense of wonder at the sheer beauty and mystery of the human experience. For decades, American composer Michael Byron has been dedicated to exploring the awe-inspiring nature of beauty through the development of a unique musical style marked by extreme polyrhythmic complexity, intricate contrapuntal textures, and the constant transformation of opulent fields of harmony. Seduced by the principle of multiplicity, Byron typically designs elaborate and exacting structural templates for his music.
His compositional approach poses both aesthetic and technical challenges to the composer, the performer, and the listener, and most of his scores require the highest degree of virtuosity to execute with accuracy. He enlisted pianists Marilyn Nonken and Joseph Kubera and set out to compose The Ultra Violet of Many Parallel Paths.
Rather than creating a hierarchical relationship between the two players, Byron preferred to establish the condition of musical equity. “The music was conceived to behave as a single organism. Everything is in permanent transition”
The rigorous pursuit of sublime beauty remains central to Byron’s creative process, and he is unequivocal in his assertion that “only the astonishing can be beautiful.” Accordingly, there are no dichotomies in his music between form and content, structure and sensuality, or intellect and emotion. Possessing a sentimental disposition, Byron
often muses that he is “the last romantic composer,” a quality that is reflected in the evocative titles of his compositions. The poetic images not only serve his penchant for fantasy, but they also invite the performers and listeners to enliven their imaginations, to transcend the mundane, and to inhabit an exalted realm in which the ultraviolet waves
that remain outside the spectrum of visible light are rendered audible.
Adapted from Eric Smigel’s program notes.
credits
released April 19, 2018
The Ultra Violet of Many Parallel Paths.”
Commissioned by Roulette, with support from the David and Sylvia Teitelbaum Fund, Inc.
Movement 1: “Unpolished Wishes”
Movement 2: “In This Transparency There Will Be Another Transparency, for a Moment”
Composed by Michael Byron 2016
Joseph Kubera and Marilyn Nonken, pianos
Recorded in Concert at Roulette Intermedium, NYC November 2, 2017
supported by 6 fans who also own “the ultra violet of many parallel paths”
Had the pleasure of attending Andy Lee's performance world premiere of "pianist, alone (2)" at CalArts in September 2013. Hearing it again now, it re-strikes me as uniquely, if quietly, stunning. Man music mechanism: all engaged in a pure probing of sonic possibility. Essential, restrained, ultimately rapturous. George Wallace
supported by 6 fans who also own “the ultra violet of many parallel paths”
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