Brian Kane -- Composer

This is an semi-improvised piece for piano, guitar, accordion, violin, cello and live electronics, conducted by stopwatch. The players follow a score which determines playing technique, general duration, and manner of entering/exiting. The electronics are mixed live, and were programmed in Max/MSP.

The Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players

Jason Levis, piano

Marie Abe, accordion

Brian Kane, guitar

Leighton Fong, cello

Graeme Jennings, violin

John MacCallum, live electronics

Recorded live at Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, April 3, 2006.

Read the Program Note or visit www.browsebriankane.com.

Three Sonnets of George Santayana (2001)

Winner, De Lorenzo Prize in Music Composition

A short song cycle for soprano, piano, clarinet and cello. The songs are composed on three ecphrastic sonnets: the first a description of a tapestry, the second a cathedral, and the third a statue of Achilles. The settings attempt to embody Santayana's startling naturalism.

Karen Hall, soprano
Marika Hughes, cello
Matt Ingalls, clarinet
Hadley McCarroll, piano

Recorded live at Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, May 2nd, 2001

Read the Program Note

This work for solo violin was inspired by the work of artist David Rabinowitch and is fondly dedicated to him.

David Ryther, Violin
Recorded live at the Berkeley Arts Center, Nov. 9th, 2003

Read the Program Note

Clarinet Quintet (2002-2003)

Winner, De Lorenzo Prize in Music Composition.

This is a three movement work for clarinet and string quartet, approx. 22 minutes in length. The piece is based on the writings of three Greek philosophers: Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Epicurus.

The Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players

Peter Josheff, clarinet

Karen Shinozaki, Cary Koh, violins

Darcy Rindt, viola

Leighton Fong, cello

David Milnes, conductor

Recorded Live at the International House, Nov. 22nd, 2003.Read the Program Note

Piano Sonata (1999)

A three movement sonata for piano. The piece integrates a series of compositional techniques into a large multi-movement work.

Hadley McCarroll, piano
Recorded live at Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, Dec. 6th, 2000

Read the Program Note

This is a brand new piece for solo piano, approx. 10 minutes in length. Three kinds of musical material are developing simultaneously, and begin to interact in surprising ways. It is my first foray into computer aided composition; much of the material was generated with OpenMusic, and developed intuitively.

Michael Seth Orland, Piano
Recorded live at Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, April 25, 2005

Read the Program Note

This is an electronic work in which all the sounds are computer generated. It is tightly constructed using a limited repertoire of sounds, all of which are modeled on inharmonic spectra.

This piece was realized on my home computer in Berkeley, using MAX/MSP, AudioSculpt and ProTools.

Melodrama, nach Beethoven (2003)

This is an electronic work based on Beethoven's Melodram for Glass Harmonica and Reciter. The piece uses a wide variety of electronic music techniques to create an unusual musical narrative.

The piece was realized on my home computer in Berkeley, using MAX/MSP, Audio Sculpt, Open Music and ProTools.