Cradlesong
for piano and electronics
Composed for Kathy Chow
First performance: 1 Dec 2021
Performed at the ANAM Set Festival by
Alex Waite (piano)
Program note:
This composition is the latest in a series of pieces of mine focusing on the processes of machine listening. The operation of the work sees me firstly distend and ornament a song, then secondly have the machine reinterpret it (listening for pattern, harmony, melody), and finally recombine the resulting data into a romantic whole. The conclusion is what you hear now. I decided to omit most rhythmic change and instead map this data onto oft-consistent semiquavers. The melodic quality became then a counterpoint to focus on, of continually falling and continually rising speech intoned by the piano. I’m grateful for Kathy Chow’s dedication to this challenging work. I hear it as a future song to a child, near unremitting, close to audible words articulated fanwise as coronets, a song hour-glassed into the shape of a ringing bell.
About the composer:
Emile Frankel is a writer and composer researching the changing conditions of online listening, care and collectivity. He is the author of Hearing the Cloud (Zero Books), a guest lecturer at festivals such as Unsound and CTM / Transmediale, and the creator of a growing collection of interactive pieces for performers and virtual environments. Emile is currently completing a PhD at The University of Melbourne.
More info: https://emilefrankel.xyz