Pauline Oliveros is one of America's most vital composers. Deep Listening®, her lifetime practice, is fundamental to her composing, performing and teaching. She serves as Distinguished Research Professor of Music at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY; Darius Milhaud Artist-in-residence at Mills College, Oakland CA; and president of the Deep Listening Institute in Kingston NY.
Lion's Eye for Gamelan was commissioned in 1985 by Barbara Benary for Gamelan Son of Lion. Lion's Eye for Synthesizer was commissioned concurrently by Neil Rolnick for iEAR Presents at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Both versions were performed in 1985. The intention to combine both pieces in order to expand the tempo range of the Gamelan was first realized in May of 1989 in performances by the Berkeley Gamelan in Oakland and San Francisco, California under the direction of Daniel Schmidt. This version of Lion's Eye is recorded on this disc. The duration of "Lion's Eye" is forty-five minutes. "Lion's Tale" (1989) is composed of layered polymetrical, polyrhythmical patterns. The patterns are played at speeds ranging up to 1800 per minute. The composer designed patterns are generated by the computer program. "Lion's Tale" may be created in a new version every time the program is run. "Lion's Tale" also exists in a MIDI version for a keyboard performer. Both versions are available from Deep Listening Publications. Known internationally as a composer, accordionist and teacher, Pauline Oliveros's work in improvisation, electronic techniques, teaching methods, myth and ritual, and meditative and physical consciousness raising has changed the course of American music. She left the University of California at San Diego in 1981, at the rank of full professor, in order to support her ideas, creative projects and collaborations. All of her work emphasizes attentional strategies, musicianship and improvisational skills. Oliveros' compositions have been performed worldwide.
Fifteen pieces for audience participation.
"Originally released on the Table of the Elements label and long out of print, this version of the recording contains an additional 30 minutes of material not included on the original release. Recorded live on March 20, 1998 at Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY. Primordial/Lift is based on information concerning the shift in the resonant frequency of the earth from 7.8hz to 13hz given in Awakening to the Zero Point by Gregg Braden, Radio Bookstore Press (1997). According to Braden, the resonant frequency of the earth was measured as 7.8hz in 1960 and by 1994 the measurement was at 8.6hz and it will rise to 13hz by 2010. At the same time the magnetic fields of the earth are diminishing in strength towards zero point. By the time that 13hz is established as the resonant frequency the magnetic fields will reverse their polarity - North will become South and vice versa. The acceleration from 7.8hz to 13hz of the earth's resonant frequency is represented in Primordial/Lift by a low frequency oscillator." Pauline Oliveros - accordian & electronics, voice; Andrew Deutsch - electronics & toy piano; Tony Conrad - electric violin & ring modulator; Anne Bourne - cello & voice; Alexandria Gelencser - electric cello; David Grubbs - harmonium; Scott Olson - low frequency oscillator.
For soloist and an imaginary partner or ensemble of up to 100.
Compilation from Composer Recordings, Inc. includes Pauline Oliveros' A Poem of Change (1992) along with works by Nurit Tilles, Linda Montano, Lori Freedman/Marilyn Lerner, Paula Kimper, Eve Beglarian, Jennifer Higdon, Annea Lockwood, Madelyn Byrne, and Ruth Anderson. (CD 780 CRI 1998)
Traveling Companions
For 3 percussionists and 3 dancers.
A quietly crucial American composer, Pauline Oliveros has been a pioneer of music that works at the confluence of tone, breath and the expansion of perceptions – an organic tone scientist breathing spirit music with the sometimes unwieldy lungs of the accordion. The eclectic Important label has offered us a nice surprise, re-issuing on CD two classic Oliveros albums from the 1980s.
Accordion & Voice, from 1982, could not be better titled. It’s a breathtakingly intimate record, with each extended (originally side-long) piece going deep. “Horse Sings From Cloud” is based on a dream Oliveros had, and offers interactive billows of sustained accordion and vocal drones, broken only by the need for breath – in the lungs of singer and accordion both. The piece is hypnotic and stately, with the vibrations of reeds and larynx combining to create the sense of a calming and centering ancient ritual.
“Rattlesnake Mountain” reveals Oliveros’ virtuosity. A meditation upon and evocation of a mountain landscape important to the composer, the piece presents long fluttering lines rising from and interacting with slowly shifting drones. Rich in the ornamentation and permutation of long melodic lines, the result might at times suggest Carnatic classical music, Sufi singing, or the grace-noted explorations of Scottish bagpipe Pibroch. But the imperatives of breath and body at the heart of Oliveros’ music bring out her own very personal musical calligraphy.
Important has given loving attention to detail in these reissues, reproducing in CD-size the LP jackets, retaining the original liner notes and adding new notes by the composer. Best of all, the CD mastering has preserved the dynamic range of the recordings.
By Kevin Macneil Brown, Dusted
For 2 pianos and double wind quintet
For Orchestra.
Recorded live at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) - Philip Gelb, shakuachi; Pauline Oliveros, accordion; Dana Reason, piano; Barre Phillips
For flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn, cello and piano.
"Though an unlikely combination -- accordion and koto -- it is not so much about the instruments as about the energies of the music that comes from the intensity of listening -- listening as close to 'now' as possible. We know that our consciousness is delayed by a fraction of a second that the brain interprets as now -- however the body is instantaneous in its perception. Thus the phenomena of playing and becoming conscious of what has played -- been played -- is a continually surprising experience in such improvisation." --Pauline Oliveros
Trio for Accordion, Trumpet and String Bass
Pauline Oliveros - Tara's Room - Two Meditations on Transition and Change
"Both pieces are intended to aid the listener in times of spiritual change, but are just fine for 'everyday' use as well. Highly recommended." Charles S. Russell, Ear Magazine
The two works on this cd - Tara's Room and The Beauty of Sorrow were composed and performed by Pauline Oliveros and recorded in May 1987. Previously only available as a cassette and long out of print, Deep Listening is proud to make these wonderful pieces available on cd.
For solo snare drum
Includes I of IV, big mother is watching you, and bye bye butterfly. All three electronic works from the mid-sixties.
For female voice and chamber ensemble
Featuring new exclusive works from: Chris Brown, Fred Frith, Pauline Oliveros, Maggi Payne, John Bischoff & Alvin Curran. The Mills College Music Department and Center for Contemporary Music continue to play a leading role in the development of experimental music, a tradition that took root at the small liberal arts college in Oakland, California more than sixty years ago. This CD documents work in the area of electro-acoustical music by six composers active at Mills today.
The Wanderer (composed in 1982) is a rare work for that rare ensemble, the accordion orchestra, here 23-strong. The Wanderer's first half mainly investigates the complexities of drone, with a rich, multi-layered texture serving as the backing for measured solo melodies. A number of dramatic crescendos set it apart from many of Oliveros's other accordion drone pieces. Some of the melodies are reminiscent of bagpipe music, and in the second half it transforms into highly rhythmic dance music.
In the collection Sleepers, and written in 1979 for her new niece and namesake, this is an example of Oliveros' work written in graphs with verbal instructions that call for the meditative and "deep listening" involvement of groups of performers and often of the audience members as performers themselves. "Hum the sound of pleasure as if you were serenading your best loved infant...play with the MMM sound by adding vowels and dipthongs between the M's using any repetitions or prolongations...stay open to your own sensations and imagine gradually expanding your awareness to sensing your surroundings..." It goes without saying that realizations of this piece are often beautiful. Much of Oliveros' work continues to explore the meditative solo state (especially her compelling spontaneous accordion playing, with and without electronics) and highly imaginative and perceptive musical instruction scores (Crow Two, El Relicario de los Animales, The Wheel of Life, Sonic Meditations, etc.) that create situations to increase the possibilities of group interaction(s) and intuition. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide
A vivid dream of passage narrated by experimental composer Oliveros and realized through photographs by Becky Cohen. Very limited quantity.
3 Songs for Soprano and Piano
This recording is a tribute to our dear friend Matt whose life was unexpectedly cut short. The first piece is a live concert by The Space Between, recorded in NYC in December 2002. The second piece is a live concert by The Space Between with special guest Matthew Sperry, recorded in Berkeley in 1999. Released July 2003 on 482music.
Musicians: Pauline Oliveros (accordion), Philip Gelb (shakuhachi), Dana Reason (piano), Matthew Sperry (bass) - .482music
For four clarinets, bass drum with four players and solo chanter.
25 meditations for musicians of all ages and skill levels, to help them learn how to focus on, listen to, and produce sound naturally. An important work in the development of Oliveros' Deep Listening. A "must" for any music library!
Accordion in just intonation in an interactive electronic environment created by Peter Ward. (1988) "...a typically engrossing Minimalist tapestry from Pauline Oliveros..." John Rockwell, The New York Times
For any ensemble.
Pauline Oliveros appears as one of the special guests in this O.O. Discs release. The Ensemble is William Kannar, bass and computer, C. Brian Rulon, synthesizers, and Matt Sullivan, oboe, English horn and wind controller. Other guests include Ned Rothenberg, Steve Mackey, Elliott Sharp, Samm Bennett and Robert Dick.
"Four Meditations for Orchestra" is a multifaceted work which requires focused concentration, skilled musicianship and strong improvisational skills; all the hallmarks of Oliveros' form. Each of the four meditations have their own distinctive character ranging from dynamic ripples of electricity to delicate clouds of sound. A unique combination of listening and playing strategies allow each realization of the score to evolve through real-time interaction between members of the orchestra, blurring the lines between composer and performer. This coordinated approach requires no conductor.