Composer Anthony Cornicello (born in Brooklyn, New York, 1964) writes music that blurs distinctions between performers and electronics, timbre and harmony, composition and improvisation, and explores the boundaries of what may be considered post-classical concert music. His music is vibrant and visceral, full of rhythmic energy and harmonic sophistication, and his forays into live electronics have led to exciting combinations of instruments and processed sound. Cornicello’s background as a jazz pianist is evident not only in the rhythmic activity of his music, but also in his constant investigation of the rich sonorities available from a variety of instruments.
He has been commissioned to write music for the Scorchio Electric String Quartet, ModernWorks! (funding from Meet the Composer/ Commissioning Music USA), the Auros Group for New Music, the Prism Saxophone Quartet, the New York New Music Ensemble, David Holzman, the Group for Contemporary Music, and the InterEnsemble of Padova, Italy. His work has also been featured on the Guggenheim Museum’s “Works and Process” series. Cornicello’s works have also been performed by the Chicago Civic Symphony, Parnassus, ALEA III, Composers Concordance, Madeleine Shapiro, Robert Black, among many other outstanding groups and solo performers. His music has been presented as part of the Darmstadt International Festival of New Music as well as the June in Buffalo Festival.
Cornicello’s Second String Quartet has been recorded by the Atlantic String Quartet; the Second Sonata for Piano by David Holzman (Centaur). More recently, his Post-Modern Waltz was recorded by Eric Moe for Albany Records. A portrait CD of Cornicello’s works is scheduled for 2006 release on Albany Records.
As a performer, he has conducted or played piano in his own works on numerous occasions. While a graduate student at Rutgers, he formed and directed the Janus Ensemble, a group dedicated to contemporary music. More recently, Cornicello has begun performing on the laptop, using a variety of interfaces and the Max/MSP program. Those performances, mostly with EEE!, have had a notable impact on his music, as EEE!’s music ranges from hip-hop to experimental noise. EEE! is based at Eastern Connecticut State University, where Cornicello is an Associate Professor and Director of the Electronic Music Lab.
Cornicello received the Ph.D. from Brandeis University, where he studied with David Rakowski, Eric Chasalow, and Martin Boykan. His teachers also include Charles Wuorinen, Gérard Grisey, and Richard Beirach.
His current fields of interest include developing unusual interfaces for live computer music performances, as well as continuing to investigate resonance and spatialization. His recent and current projects (mostly for string instruments and electronics) have been exploring the latter two, and the series of experimental works ReZenant Garden, performed by EEE! have operated on all three areas of interest. Future projects will include works for instrumental groups or soloists and electronics, as well as turntablists.
Cornicello's works are published by C.F. Peters Corporation and APNM, and he is a member of BMI.
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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Conceptual works, 2006
So, I'm back. We had a nice vacation in Italy, which included finding some relatives in the somewhat remote town of Pallagorio in southern Italy. We also went to the medieval mountaintop village of Umbriatico, from whence our family came. To get there, you have to go up this winding road (with hairpin turns) that eventually leads to this tiny village of 900 people. There's a church there that dates to around 1000 AD. Of course, we visited the usual places as well: Rome, Florence, Venice, and Paris. Sophia was a real trooper! She did discover that museums are a great place to sleep (thankfully, they allow strollers everywhere, except St. Peter's Basilica).
I'm sure for most of you, traveling involves this: getting a whole bunch of stuff done before you go, and then coming back and getting caught up on things. That explains my absence!
During the Spring, I wrote two conceptual works, amongst other things. Now, I'm not saying these pieces are ground-breaking works in the world of composition, but for me, they're different. Although I do have a jazz background (hey, the Real Book is still on my piano!), writing pieces that are totally improvisatory is quite different for me. I've spent the past 20 or so years writing pieces that are mostly notated. Sure, I've got passages with improvisatory elements, and even a piece where the performer choses passages to play. But these two pieces are unique in my output. Both pieces use a Max/MSP patch as the main element of control, as well as the only sound-producing instrument.
The first one is called Feedback Aria. The Max patches are basically filters, and there is a microphone. I did use a mixer interface, programmed to control the filter levels. As the levels are raised and changed, you get feedback of various colors and frequencies, ranging from low rumbles to high-pitched howls.
The other piece is The Gloved One - no reference to Michael Jackson intended, although one can be worked out! Here, I use a glove controller to mix and manipulate 4 looping sound files. I used two clips of Miles Davis (one playing, and one of him talking in that raspy voice), and two of Jimi Hendrix. Any combination of sounds is, of course, possible, and I've got ways of switching between groups of sounds. The glove control the loop speed, volume, loop start/stop points, and some effects.
What excites me about both of these pieces is the use of technology to create something that is uniquely electronic. So many electronic works sound like a souped-up keyboard, which I like - I did go to the Moogfest in NYC last week. And I know I'll continue to make use of the combination of instruments of electronics. However, these works fall into a category of their own. And, I know there are plenty of works like this, by David Tudor, Alvin Lucier, and others - but it's still nice to explore this area.
I'll post MP3s in the near future.
posted by Anthony Cornicello
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