Facebook“Upon hearing the results of my collaboration with Ravel Virtual Studios, I was astounded at how “human” the music sounds. I could hear each phrase being performed with just the right amount of imperfection that distinguishes live art from sterile playback. Tempi sounded like they were interpreted by people, not by a program code. Furthermore, I could hear key clicks, articulations, and bow strikes as each passage was executed. There is no better alternative for live orchestration testing than this—if a passage is difficult to finger, it sounds difficult, though nevertheless performed with fluent virtuosity. If a composer is lucky enough to be commissioned directly by an orchestra, then they have a uniquely irreplaceable opportunity to hear their creation worked out in practicality, as it is an invaluable learning experience. For the rest of us, Ravel Virtual Studios is surely one of the best options available in the world right now for hearing a work realized in near-perfect acoustic re-creation.”
Daniel Elder
Composer
Spotlight - The Senses
With The Senses, composer Daniel Elder embraced the challenge of conveying the experience of all five senses—sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound—using the music of a full orchestral ensemble. In Daniel’s own words:
“The Senses represents the capstone project of my Masters study at Westminster Choir College. Conceived as a semi-programmatic work, it covers as wide a variety of styles and emotions as possible within the loose confines of these five themes—sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound. The unique challenge of attempting this project was that the musical product is in itself confined to one of these senses (sound), and so how does one paint an even picture of all five from this inescapable viewpoint? Thankfully the abstract nature of these themes allows much room for free musical expression, and I chose to paint these vistas from the point of view of our experiences and reactions to the physical senses. Since memories and associations share powerful bonds through sensory perception, each listener may experience the five topics differently as the work unfolds. The final musical product is, of course, the composer’s own experience of these five concepts, but beyond the notes may lie each individual’s unique personal experiences, waiting to be unlocked by the powerful associations we share through our senses.
“The musical layout of The Senses follows aesthetic models rather than formal ones. The first movement, Aspectus (sight), is largely atmospheric and revolves around the key points of revelation and arrival to new images, brought on by the sudden changes in key. In particular the harp plays an important role in signifying these pivotal moments. Olfactus (smell) is the most chromatic movement, and uses a floating, ungrounded tonic to depict the subtleties of vapors—contrasting with the heavily romantic middle theme that provides the only real clarity of perception. Sapor (taste) is purposefully set as the middle—and longest—movement. It is darkly pastoral, aided by the liquid nature of the 9/8 time signature, and explores the lusher ranges of the orchestral palette while navigating several modal key signatures. The effect should be of utmost luxury, designating taste as one of our most pleasurable associations. Tactus (touch) contrasts starkly with the placid nature of Sapor by maintaining a sprightly sixteenth-note ostinato throughout most of its length. As touch is one of the most literal senses we possess, these ’direct’ experiences are most forcefully represented through the power of brass and percussion and the churning of the strings, contrasting occasionally with the smoothness of woodwind interludes. The final movement, Auditus (sound), is a product of everything that has happened before it. As the entire work has presented sound, this literal foray into the sound world seeks to depict vast spaces and dying reverberations—the chief way our ears pick up the world around us. This movement is the most formless of the five, building to an early climax and then spending an extended amount of time echoing away the last remnants of earlier motivic themes and harmonies. The last bars primarily feature artificial harmonics, as the lower strings employ their extreme high registers over top of the dying violins, and the work finally ebbs away to nothing rising from the viola section.
“The Senses is written for the full traditional orchestral forces (double/triple winds) and uses relatively light percussion. By doing this I hope to bring out the maximum array of colors possible from the instrumental palette to optimally enhance the listener’s experience of these topics. Through The Senses, I hope the audience may be taken on an abstract adventure as they re-examine what each of these basic elements of the human experience means to them.”
Ravel Virtual Studios is honored to offer excerpts from all five movements of The Senses for your listening pleasure. Please enjoy!
| Movement | Dur. |
|---|---|
| Mvt. I - Aspectus (Sight) » | 1:05 |
| Mvt. II - Olfactus (Smell) » | 0:56 |
| Mvt. III - Sapor (Taste) » | 0:58 |
| Mvt. IV - Tactus (Touch) and Mvt. V - Auditus (Sound) » | 1:29 |
About Daniel Elder
Daniel Elder (b. 1986) is from Athens, Georgia (BM, University of Georgia 2010; MM, Westminster Choir College 2012). As a writer of choral, vocal, and instrumental music, he ties these genres together to create forms and aesthetics that are at once lyrical and textural, with inspirations widely drawn from the contrapuntal roots of early sacred music through the adventurous and programmatic nature of early twentieth-century genres. Daniel’s compositions have been extensively performed domestically by high school All-State and regional honors choirs as well as renowned college ensembles, including a 2013 appearance at the national ACDA conference. Internationally he has been performed as part of Italy’s Montu Beccaria festival in 2009 and a recent recording in London by the internationally acclaimed Eric Whitacre Singers. Competition awards include prizes in the Georgia Young Composers Festival, the Southeastern Composers League, The Choral Project, the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers, and one of eight worldwide winners of the Abbey Road Studios 80th Anniversary Anthem Competition. The first major recording of Daniel’s choral works, “The Heart’s Reflection - Music of Daniel Elder” is scheduled to be released in 2013 by the renowned Westminster Choir and Naxos. He is currently published by GIA Publications, Inc. (Chicago, IL). For unpublished manuscripts, scores may be purchased directly from the composer.
