Although it touches on ideas such as impermanence, fragmentation, insignificance, and nostalgia, Thrushes Sing as the Sun is Going is essentially about maintaining perspective in the face of change. The name comes from the poem “Proud Songsters” by Thomas Hardy. The piece pairs an aleatoric percussion part with a fixed media part. The performer creates various paths through the score by following the arrows between fragments, reacting and responding to the fixed media part. Since the performer determines the ordering and timing of the fragments, the piece can vary greatly between performances. Jonathan Shapiro premiered the piece in 2006.
BIO Stephen Lee is a composer of electronic, electroacoustic, and acoustic music who lives on Long Island. He is especially interested in interactive music and laptop improvisation, and the notion of human/computer interaction strongly influences all facets of his work. Since March 2006, he has hosted "Under the Groove," a biweekly radio show on WUSB Stony Brook, 90.1 FM. Stephen is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in composition at Stony Brook University, where he has studied with Margaret Schedel, Daniel Weymouth, and Daria Semegen. |
