Synopsis

A famous commercial for magnetic recording tape once asked the question: “Is it live—or Memorex”—suggesting it was hard to tell the difference. These days, at concerts of some contemporary composers’ works, the correct answer would be “It’s live AND Memorex”—as there is a growing body of works that involve both live performers and prerecorded tape.

A 1995 work by the American composer Ingram Marshall, titled Dark Waters, was written for an English horn soloist accompanied by a prerecorded tape of fragments from old 78-rpm recordings of Jean Sibelius’ chilly tone-poem “The Swan of Tuonela.” Both the live English horn part and the prerecorded tape are digitally processed and mixed at each live performance. “Those who know the Sibelius will recognize familiar strains,” says Marshall.

On today’s date in 1998, Marshall and Libby Van Cleve, the English horn player for whom Dark Waters was written, recorded the work at St. Casimir’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut. “You can actually hear the sound of that church in the recording,” recalls Van Cleve. “We finished at about 3 AM, and it was stiflingly hot—How ironic that Ingram's music—and Sibelius’—is always associated with cold climates!”

Music Played in Today's Program

Ingram Marshall (b. 1942) Dark Waters Libby van Cleve, English horn; Ingram Marshall, electronics New Albion 112