For harp and gated fixed media
Stereo | variable duration
Re: Elizabeth is a gated sound portrait created at the request of harpist Elizabeth Panzer. It belongs to a series of works in which the live sound of a performer controls when portions of a continuously running prerecorded composition become audible.
THE WORK
Elizabeth sent me a recording of herself playing the harp. I used material from that recording, together with other sounds, to construct a stereo fixed composition.
In performance, two stationary microphones capture the live harp. Each microphone controls a gate assigned to one channel of the prerecorded composition. Although the recording runs continuously, its sounds remain inaudible until Elizabeth’s playing opens one or both gates.
Her dynamics and musical gestures therefore determine when the left channel, right channel, or both channels of the fixed composition are heard. The revealed sounds, in turn, become material to which she responds through free improvisation. Because the recording never stops, each performance exposes a different path through the same underlying composition.
SELECTED PERFORMANCES
April 20, 1997 — World premiere
Solo Flights
Greer Recital Hall, Bloomingdale House of Music, New York City
Presented by Composers Collaborative
March 17, 1999
Roulette, New York City
March 27, 1999
Subtropics 11 Festival
Jewish Museum, Miami Beach, Florida
February 8, 2000
MATA Festival
Anthology Film Archives, New York City
All performances featured Elizabeth Panzer, harp.
RECORDING AND PUBLICATION
A 9′17″ realization of Re: Elizabeth, recorded as one uninterrupted performance, was released in 1999 on Elizabeth Panzer’s CD Dancing in Place.
O.O. Discs, oo56
Curated and produced by Joseph Celli
Read about Dancing in Place
LISTEN
Re: Elizabeth
Elizabeth Panzer, harp
Recorded live at Subtropics 11 Festival, Jewish Museum, Miami Beach, March 27, 1999
PERFORMANCE MATERIALS
The surviving document consists of performance instructions and a system flow chart rather than a conventional notated score. The fixed composition itself serves as the principal performance material.
Download the performance notes and system flow chart