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Seattle's composer Dan Joseph (1966), who studied composition in California
with Pauline Oliveros and
Alvin Curran and moved to New York in 2001,
is a late minimalist whose music
absorbs influences from folk music from around the world
in the vein of the Penguin Cafè Orchestra.
Archaea (Mutablemusic, 2006) collects three chamber pieces performed
by a neo-baroque ensemble comprised of violinist Tom Chiu, cellist Loren Dempster, Marija Ilic on harpsichord, Dan Joseph on hammered dulcimer, clarinetist Michael Lowenstern and percussionist Danny Tunick:
the geometric, quasi-dissonant 16-minute Archaea Quartet (2001),
the menacing, mutating, fanfare-like, Terry Riley-ian 17-minute Lotus Quintet (2002),
and the exuberant, propulsive, Michael Nyman-esque, 19-minute Percussion and Strings (2004), that ends in a
a frenzied gypsy-like crescendo.
The highlight of Tonalization for the Afterlife (Mutable, 2011) is
the 33-minute Tonalization (2009) for flute, violin, cello, marimba, harpsichord and hammer dulcimer. The piece, which is actually a requiem, indulges
in the exploration of tinning and insistent counterpoint
that harks back to minimalism, to baroque fugues, to Renaissance court dances, and, after a section of subdued droning music, even to Celtic jigs, with the
last movement soaring into a spiral-like fusion of all these elements.
The album also includes the simple and tender
Wind Patterns for flute and dulcimer,
and the pensive
18-minute Music Primer for baritone and hammer dulcimer.
Dreams of Seven (2001) is devoted to the namesake seven-movement study (2008) for processed hammer dulcimer and found sounds.
Digital Ephemera (2001) contains three electronic compositions:
Odyssey,
Spiral Superhighway and Archaea Loops.
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