Jacob David Sudol(b. Des Moines, Iowa 1980) writes intimate compositions that explore enigmatic phenomena and the inner nature of how we perceive sound. He recently finished his M.Mus. at McGill University and currently resides in La Jolla, CA where he is working towards a Ph.D. in composition at the University of California at San Diego with Roger Reynolds, Chinary Ung, Philippe Manoury, and Rand Steiger.
Over the last five years some of Jacob's mentors in composition have included John Rea, Denys Bouliane, Philippe Leroux, Sean Ferguson, Dan Asia, and Craig Walsh. He has also participated in master classes with Danish composer Bent Sørensen and German composer Manfred Stahnke.
During 2005-2006, Jacob was the first-ever composer-in-residence for the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble under the direction of Denys Bouliane, in collaboration with the McGill Digital Composition Studio. He has also written music for the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Contemporary Keyboard Society, percussionist Fernando Rocha, saxophonist Elizabeth Bunt, and clarinetist Krista Martynes. As an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, he composed the music for a collaborative dance project with choreographer Hillary Peterson, and he was the principal composer and pianist for El Proyecto de Santa Barbara, a chamber Latin jazz ensemble.
During the 2005 and 2007 Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques and 2006 MusiMars festivals Jacob was an electronic assistant for performances with Court-Circuit, Matt Haimovitz, Sara Laimon, Martin Matalon, Moritz Eggert, Manfred Stahnke, the Caput Ensemble, and the McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble. These concerts were broadcast by the CBC and the European Broadcasting Union in over fifty countries throughout the world. He is currently a studio research assistant for Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds.
During his free time Jacob takes an active interest in religious phenomenology, cinema, acoustics, literature, poetry, and visual art. As a composer and performer, he always attempts to bring insights from these other fields into his work.
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All music posted on this blog is posted out of love and the idea that for the truly great music of our time(s) to be known it must first and foremost be heard. If you like what you hear please support the artist by buying the recordings, scores, and/or encouraging the performances of the music in every way possible.
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On Monday I had the unique opportunity to hear Charlemagne Palestine perform the Cassavant Gallery Organ at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Cathedral in Montréal. For this concert (which was recorded for a possible future release) Charlemagne Palestine fittingly performed his improvised composition Schlingen Blängen: An ascension for Shirley Lipschitz 1912-2006 as a memorial for his recently deceased mother.
Charlemagne Palestine recorded an earlier version of Schlingen Blängen in 1979. ( The recording was recently reissued on compact disc. The original 70 minute recording comprises one depressed organ note undergoing slow and hypnotic timbral transformations. The effect is very similar to the much quicker timbral transformations featured in Ligeti’s organ work, Volumina.
Although similar in concept and technique to the original recording of Schlingen Blängen, Monday’s concert carried a greater emotional affect. At the beginning of the two hour performance, Charlemagne Palestine walked around the cathedral’s navel while singing and rubbing the rim of a brandy glass. Afterwards, he depressed one chord on the organ and slowly began to add notes and timbral richness. About an hour later the organ suddenly stopped in a deafening silence until a distant recapitulation of the beginning sounded from the back of the cathedral. Another prolonged organ crescendo followed. This time the timbres were thicker while the harmony included sliding and percussive clusters. The extended climax recalled the beginning of Volumina as every organ stop was opened and a complete cluster screamed off every wall in an impenetrable mixture of agony and joy. It was one of those musical moments that is impossible to record and, likewise, impossible to forget. Afterwards, the organ stops were slowly returned and the work ended with a silence more startling yet definitive than the about one an hour before.
To date, the memorial’s resonance seems greater than I can find the words express and I’m sure that Charlemagne Palestine’s mother and Ligeti appreciate it in their collective ascension.
