......................................................................................................................Long Island Sound and Conn - Ken-Cro-Ken

Chris Kaufman's Hudson Valley Music features Live performance by musicians, a CDTape of Sound Design and Music including hundreds of Natural Sounds from the Hudson River Valley Environment, and a film of Visual Images created from both Natural Images and the Art of Ken-Cro-Ken and Alice Cotton.

The Composer Writes:

"...For this project I have assembled hundreds of natural sounds. With these I have worked extensively - creating interwoven backdrops of sound over which the musicians perform. I have also created original instruments from the sounds of living creatures... I perform music onto the tape... and compose with orchestral sounds to create powerful rhythmic ostinatos in the central portion of the piece and peaceful textures at the end. Throughout the work musical themes are shared by the sound design, the animals and the live players..."

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A Quick Overview

.....of Chris Kaufman's Hudson Valley Music:

HUDSON VALLEY MUSIC tells a story - the audience is given an experience. The work invites them to experience the beauty of nature, gives a feeling of immediacy in regards to environmental issues, and leaves them receptive to hearing speakers on these issues.

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'OCEAN' - The story of Chris Kaufman's Hudson Valley Music begins in the ocean at the mouth of the river - the audience hears ocean surf, whalesong and beautiful melody from the players. The sounds of canoe oars paddling is a part of the music and enhances the feeling of being inside the experience. The sounds of Beluga recorded underwater are composed into an eerie soundscape as the surf and whalesong gradually change sides, giving the impression of turning towards the shore.

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The music flows to the shoreline - you hear shorebirds and water sounds shift from ocean to river water. A 'symphony of bird song' begins the second movement of the work - 'FOREST BINARIES'. Here the musicians perform wild 'nature fugues', solos and climaxes against a backdrop of rhythmic textures created from frogs, insects, birds, orchestral instruments and original instruments created from natural sounds such as the 'oyster toadfish drum'. The music reaches a frenzy - "the madness of unfettered invention" - and works to an infusion of positive energy before moving into the third movement - 'TRANSITION INTO NIGHT'.

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Here a tapestry of sound is woven from crickets, wolfsong chorus, incisive coyote sounds, bats, red-wing blackbird, bear growls and moose. This composition sounds twice - the first alone and the second time it is integrated with music performed by the Quintet.

The fourth movement is titled 'INDUSTRIAL STORM: BIG BONE CREEK'. The sound design music is created from industrial sounds such as pile drivers, original instruments created from metallic crashes and clashing armour from film music/sound effect libraries. Kaufman also designed the sound of a roaring Mastodon from elephant, elk, bowed gong and thundersheet. The music the players perform express fear. The idea of this movement is to create a feeling of fear and immediacy - a touch of the flight or fight reflex - to bring the issue of climate change to the foreground of the listeners' mind. Mastodon bones were discovered in the upper Hudson River Valley - and later to the west in a place the Native Americans called 'big bone creek' - and were a part of their mythology. The bones were also collected by founding fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and symbolized to them the 'Violence of Nature' and 'Empire'.

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This picture is the result of the extracting Natural Gas from the
.environment irresponsibly - this is happening now.            

The last movement is titled '...AND THE EARTH IS OUR SPIRITUAL HOUSE'. This movement is beautiful and peaceful yet still retains the passionate intensity of the preceding music. Kaufman did not wish to tie in to a specific religion, but rather the spiritual awe John Muir must have felt when in nature. The principal animal characters return in a new chorus composed of their sounds.

PRESS to see Kaufman's Preconcert Talk Notes for more about the Story of this Work.          

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HUDSON VALLEY MUSIC can be 'redesigned' for your
chamber ensemble or solo instrument.

If ‘first of kind’ you receive:
• World Premiere Status
• Dedication on Title Page
• Permanent link to Project Page.

Commission a new work from Chris Kaufman
to share your concern for a particular environmental issue or ecosystem

Contact Chris Kaufman for fee schedule

Original Commission by: BARBARA OLDHAM (Quintet of the Americas)

Christopher Kaufman's HUDSON VALLEY MUSIC was featured on Quintet of the Americas' 30th Anniversary season. Their season was presented in concert with the Wildlife Conservation Societys''Mannahatta Project' - which concerns history and sustainability of the Hudson River Valley environment. The version for 6 players was premiered on Ensemble Pi's 'Echo System' event Cooper Union Great Hall (3/19/2011). The version for 4 players was premiered at the Society For New Music event - Natural Beauties - 7/22/2011. The first solo version was performed on 3/22/11 by David Unland at Ithaca College (tuba). 'Ocean Nocturne' was developed for the New London Wind Festival and premiered 11/18/11.

'Designs' of  HUDSON VALLEY MUSIC completed thus far:
Hudson Valley Music for Woodwind Quintet

'Ocean Nocturne' from Hudson Valley Music - for woodwind quintet
Report from Catherine Pluygers:
LONDON NEW WIND FESTIVAL
Report on Ocean Nocturne from Hudson Valley Music for Live Players and DVD (Sound and Film) composed by Chris Kaufman.
 
On Friday 18th November at 7.45 pm at Regents Hall, Oxford St, London W1C 2DJ, members of London New Wind Ensemble (Charlotte Munro Flute, Catherine Pluygers Oboe, Phil Edwards Clarinet, Henryk Sienkiewicz Horn, Glyn Williams Bassoon and Robert Coleridge Director) gave the first UK Performance of "Ocean Nocturne" from Hudson Valley Music. 
This piece was selected  by the London New Wind Festival - a festival commited to bringing brand new music to audiences.  Our brief to composer Chris Kaufman was to compose a piece of music that was relatively straight-forward to rehearse and that would fit in well with a concert programme.

Hudson Valley Music for 6 players (fl., vln., hn., clar., vc. and pno.)
- violin and cello are interchangeable with oboe or bassoon.

Hudson Valley Music for 4 Players (vln., clar., vc. and pno.)

Solo versions: Horn, Oboe, Tuba

TIMINGS: The Ensemble Arrangements have a short version (15') and full version (21'). The Solo versions average 12'. Ocean Nocturne (just under 10')

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Mr. Kaufman would like to acknowledge the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library - the world's largest archive of animal sounds and video - which was a source for many of the sounds Mr. Kaufman used in Hudson Valley Music.

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Links:

QUINTET OF THE AMERICAS

THE MANNAHATTA PROJECT

ENSEMBLE PI

SOCIETY FOR NEW MUSIC

NEW LONDON WIND FESTIVAL

The Commissioners:

Barbara Oldham - First Commissioner

Idith Meshulam - Commissioned version for Six Players

Neva Pilgrim - Requested version for Four Players

Catherine Pluygers - Developer for 'Ocean Nocturne'

The Players:

Sato Moughalian, Barry Crawford, Charlotte Munro - Flute

Airi Yoshioka , Cristina Buciu - Violin

Matt Sullivan , Catherine Pluygers - Oboe

Nick Gallas , John Friedrichs, Phil Edwards - Clarinet

Barbara Oldham, Karl Kramer, Henryk Sienkiewics - Horn

Maureen Strenge, Glyn Williams - Bassoon

Claire Bryant , George Macero - Cello

Idith Meshulam , Sar Shalom Strong - Piano

David Unland - Tuba

Robert Coleridge - Conductor

KEN-CRO-KEN - Artist

Alice Cotton - Artist

Sean Unland - Tekkie

The Organizations:

The Catskill Mountainkeeper - Directed by Ramsey Adams

The Wildlife Conservation Society -Stephen Sautner, Asst. Dir. of Conservation Communications

Riverkeeper

LIVE EARTH

The Locations:

Frederick Loewe Theater - NYU, The Noble Maritime Museum - Staten Island, NY, The Bayside Historical Society - Queens, NY, Wave Hill - Bronx, N Y, Cooper Union Great Hall - NYC, 1st Presb. Church - Cazenovia, NY, Langston Hughes Theater - Flushing, NY, Rockaway Artists Alliance Exhibition - NY, The Waterfront Museum - Brooklyn, NY, The Salvation Army Queens Temple

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