Farseer

Program Note

Farseer (2009), for clarinet and interactive electronics and/or fixed media, is a culmination of the composer's fascination with optics, visions, and, well, things-visual. From considering the vast distances that we can now see with the aid of various lenses and other imagery devices, to the possibility of seeing into the future or past (via visions, hallucinations, or devices), the notion of distance and time having a "malleable" boundary for vision/knowledge/perception is central to the premise of the piece (listening is an analog to seeing.) By using the clarinet as the sound source for the fixed media elements, as well as having live processing of the soloist's performance, it is hoped that the melding of materials will have the periodic effect of burring the perception of source, timing, and space.

Farseer was composed with Common Music (an algorithmic composition environment by Taube), Csound, Protools, and Max/MSP. Farseer was composed for and with materials recorded from clarinetist Kyle Rowan.

Technical Note

Contact the composer for the Performance Max Patch.

Performance Information

• Premiere: UIUC Concert of New Music, Kyle Rowan, clarinet, March 13, 2009.
• Presented at the SEAMUS National Conference 2017, St. Cloud State University, Ritsche Auditorium, St. Cloud, Minnesota, April 20–22, 2017.

Recording