Tag: Alarm Will Sound

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Performances Reviews

Alarm Will Sound: A Classical Approach to Electronic Sounds

From NYTimes.com:

It is hard to tell whether Alarm Will Sound is finding itself or losing itself, but it may be a bit of both. A reasonably straightforward new-music band in 2001, when it made the jump from college orchestra (at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester) to professional ensemble, it has preserved its freshness by thinking about repertory in ways that most groups do not.

One has been to raid arcane corners of the pop-music world, specifically electronica, a form that combines elements of avant-garde electronic music (tape loops, found sounds, radically altered timbres) with the heavy beat of rock. Since Alarm Will Sound’s roster includes several composers, arranging these pieces is done entirely in house.

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Performances Reviews

Ethel, Alarm Will Sound and Bang on a Can All-Stars Perform

A review from NYTimes.com:

As a prelude, the idiosyncratic string quartet Ethel gave the premiere of Phil Kline’s “Space” as a free concert in the hall’s large new public area. The quartet’s players were deployed individually to the north, south, east and west of the restaurant and waiting area, and a loudspeaker in each corner carried the amplified, electronically processed sound of one musician. (The sound designer, Jody Elff, was given equal billing with Mr. Kline.)

Mr. Kline’s hypnotically attractive 45-minute work begins with the quartet playing a tremolando figure that gradually shifts to new harmonies and textures before moving through the lexicon of string ensemble effects. Along the way it explores sustained tones and lightly dissonant harmonies, with a bagpipelike timbre; pizzicato figures supporting soaring, lyrical viola and cello lines; and ornate violin solos bathed in tape delay that created an almost fugal illusion.

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