MIKE EINZIGER'S "FORCED CURVATURE OF REFLECTIVE SURFACES". OPENING NIGHT OF WEST COAST LEFT COAST

Performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall November 21, 2009. Enjoy the music!!! (pardon the poor camera angles).. From Mike's myspace.com/michaelaaroneinziger page:
" Forced Curvature was inspired by a combination of the physical appearance of the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Einzigers studies in the philosophy of quantum mechanics. The music was written for 12 electric guitars (played with a slide), 12 strings (violin, cello), and is based on the glissando. The instruments have been orchestrated in terms of corresponding high and low registers, that reflect each other as though being viewed through a mirror. The exterior shape of Disney Hall informed the shape of the sounds created and by necessity, was first drawn visually in the form of architectural-like renderings, before being committed to paper in the form of a hand-written score. "This building is obviously a solid, immobile structure", Einziger says of the Disney Hall. "But it looks like a series of reflective waves that have been frozen in a specific state at a specific place in time, and I wanted to try and imagine what it might sound like if that idea were to be expressed as waves of sound. Adding a 4th dimension of time to the picture would force the structure into a Minkowskian space-time manifold, and it would therefore become directional. It would be as though time itself were forcing the curvature of the reflective material in a forward-motion, because time appears to be directional." The piece has no apparent formal structure and has been through-composed. All of the instruments will be fused together, forming 2 distinct mirror images. The strings and guitars combined will not sound like separate groups of instruments, but rather as dense units of a single instrument uncharacteristic of entirely one or the other. Einziger conceived of the piece at Harvard University where he is currently a student, and has studied the history and philosophy of physics with physicist/historian, Dr. Peter Galison."

By the way, the silhouette in the middle of the view is Ben Kenney. :')

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Mike Einziger
• walt disney concert hall
• west coast left coast
• forced curvature

[quiche84km]

wow. You really MUST listen to this in its entirety. I found it to be trippy, winding, and edgey. There are some moments in this that are simply pure beauty that just fade in, in such surprising ways. It has an other-wordly vibe, but there is a familiarity in it too. Never heard anything like it!! Definitely worth a listen.

[truthspeaks84]

Only a thousand views?! Damn I feel special :-)

[WildBillHickums]

@jackmackerel5 Indeed but this sounds like the ambient sounds of those really old disney cartoons.

[jackmackerel5]

@WildBillHickums I am going to guess you are talking about John Cage, and I was thinking the same thing. I'm willing to bet he is a fan, or at least inspired by him.

[diegokobe]

Iannis Xenakis

[caidenjohnsonpoetry]

It's so genius! So many ascending and descending glissandos occurring at different instances yet it's so 'even'. Very cleverly orchestrated, Mike.

[WildBillHickums]

I'm guessing he's a fan of John Kage?

[siksadlitlwrld]

@quiche84km Hey where does someone go about finding it in its entirety? I am hearing this for the 1st time right now....and really I would like to hear more of it.

[IrishCurt1]

the amazing thing is the way he composed the music..look it up

[rapley72]

thank you for posting this! i really wanted to hear it.