The Muted Note is a marriage of music, dance, and poetry—specifically, the poetry of the late Canadian writer P. K. Page. Her work was the unexpected catalyst for the first creative collaboration between Scott Thomson and Susanna Hood, both of whom were long-time linchpins of Toronto’s artistic scene before moving to Montreal in 2010. TrombonistContinue reading “The Evolution of The Muted Note”
Author Archives: Musicworks
Gil Delindro’s instruments of nature
Earlier this year, an eight-foot-across circle of solid ice was hung from the ceiling of Winnipeg’s RAW: Gallery of Architecture and Design. Why would anyone in the world’s second-coldest city (after Ulan Bator, Mongolia) want that legendary cold brought indoors? The occasion was the mounting of a new work by Portuguese-born, Berlin-based sound artist GilContinue reading “Gil Delindro’s instruments of nature”
Louis Andriessen brings the noise
Louis Andriessen arrived on the international scene with a bang. In 1976 he unleashed De Staat (The Republic) on unsuspecting audiences. The political charge of the composition came from texts of Plato sung by four soprano voices hovering like ethereal apparitions over pounding, iron-fisted piano rhythms. The breathlessly whirling repetition was reminiscent of Steve Reich’sContinue reading “Louis Andriessen brings the noise”
Isaiah Ceccarelli
“I know it may sound crazy, but I am interested in making beautiful music—music that sounds good. I’m not saying this just to be different, and it might not be in line with a lot of the reasons that people make music today, but I am actually not very involved with, or worrying so muchContinue reading “Isaiah Ceccarelli”
Caduc
The word caduc translates from French as both obsolete and deciduous. Appropriately, the roster of Mathieu Ruhlmann’s humble Vancouver imprint, Caduc, plays right at the intersection of the organic world and senescent technology. Since late 2011, Caduc has built a catalogue of improvised and intuitively constructed music whose sonic fibre is audible, and often quite delicate.Continue reading “Caduc”
Chiyoko Szlavnics draws the ear towards infinity
“I keep coming back to light on water,” says Chiyoko Szlavnics, explaining her interest in beating, that intriguing fluttering effect that arises when sound waves of slightly differing frequencies coincide. “It’s a very similar kind of synaptic experience—for me, at least. We don’t hear beating in music, normally. But it moves me, like sunlight dancingContinue reading “Chiyoko Szlavnics draws the ear towards infinity”
Erin Sexton
Erin Sexton is in awe of the universe. By situating her creative practice in relation to the stars and the planets, the Montreal sound artist seeks to engage in conversations with the cosmos. Her work is grounded in the hard materials we know as nature, electricity, and the elements. She employs matter, energy, space, andContinue reading “Erin Sexton”
Petra Glynt experiments in celebration
Ancient rock carvings at Petroglyphs Provincial Park in eastern Ontario inspired Alexandra Mackenzie to call her latest solo musical project Petra Glynt. Evoking rock, ancient cultures, flashes of reflected light, and the enduring power of art, the name seems perfectly apt. Petra Glynt may be an experimental, mostly electronic music act, but just as petroglyphsContinue reading “Petra Glynt experiments in celebration”
Mark Molnar’s alternative trajectories
Harrowingly unbridled and unpredictable, yet blatantly meticulous in their construction, Mark Molnar’s compositions frequently emerge as rugged tangles of bowed-string sonorities. Even though their gestural expressivity might suggest that they could’ve been conceived in myriad other ways—through structured group improvisation, or perhaps through recording only—his pieces are written out with note-perfect exactitude. At first, oneContinue reading “Mark Molnar’s alternative trajectories”
The Restless Art of Radwan Ghazi Moumneh
It’s Friday night in Montreal, and a who’s who of local musicians is packed into the back room of Casa del Popolo to check out the first public appearance of Master of Masters My Master. Nobody knows anything about the music they are about to hear. All they have to go on is an eventContinue reading “The Restless Art of Radwan Ghazi Moumneh”