The idea of simplicity is the most beautiful and most difficult concept to conceptualize in a work. This being because the idea of simplicity is one that is untainted by any unnatural touches. In honor of John Luther Adams, ‘Symphony of Light’ is an extension of a few simple conceptual ideas that i have discovered and slowly adapted in my newer works. This is what has always struck me about the perfect works of J.L.A. His works are simple in nature and concept but evolve into extremely complex bodies of sound. The genius of this concept is that we can let simplicity take its own life and create works and ideas that surpass our judgmental and conceited minds.

‘Symphony of Light’ is an electronic cyclic work made from a violin playing the G major scale with all notes at slightly different lengths. The concept of this work was to create a ‘looping’ electronic instrument for live performance in abelton live. Each note from the lowest G to the highest G were recorded with only two ideas in place. The violinist plays each note as a beautiful crescendo then decrescendo and as long as possible. This performance idea was somewhat adopted from the conceptual tempi and duration ideas of Morton Feldman’s ‘as quiet as possible’ and unconventional rhythms/notation. With this simple concept my electronic instrument creates its own tempo, harmonic development, and rhythmic pulse and the piece never sounds the same even though all the notes are being held in a loop.

Josh

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