by Brian Bice
March 8, 2008
This past Wednesday (March 5, 2008) I had the pleasure of attending a concert featuring the music of Dr. Elainie Lillios at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR. This concert was presented as a part of WOU’s 2nd Annual Electro-Acoustic Music Festival. Seven of Elainie’s compositions were performed that night. Before the performance of each piece Elainie gave the audience a brief introduction and insight to the composition.
Elainie serves as Associate Professor of Composition and Coordinator of Music Technology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. “Elainie Lillios’s music focuses on the essence of sound and suspension of time, conveying different emotions and taking listeners on ‘sonic journeys’.” (Excerpt taken from the biographical information found in the program notes from the concert.) Elainie’s compositions are based primarily on source recordings that she made.
First on the program was Arturo. This piece was composed using samples taken from an interview with a tarot card reader named Arturo. This piece reflects some of the insight and beliefs of the tarot card reader. In this piece time is suspended. Samples tend to be drawn out interjected with smaller events acting as a catalyst for providing forward motion. Arturo asserts that there is no such thing as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The cards only reveal the possibilities of the future.
Next on the program was Threads. Elainie describes Threads as an attempt to answer the challenge of composing a melody in electro-acoustic music. Of this piece she writes, “Threads of sonic material, sinewy, flexible, bending, flowing…weaving together to form the fabric of objects, gestures, motion…the clothes of music.”
New Adventures in Sound Art in Toronto commissioned Hastening Toward the Half Moon. The work brings together a series of musical ideas that recall a sense of wonder and yearning towards the unknown. At times there is a sense of urgency in this piece that is not often found in her other works. Heavy breathing indicating that some one is rushing or hastening to find answers highlights this urgency.
The centerpiece of the program was a performance of 2BTextures a collaboration with video artist Bonnie Mitchell. Elainie composed two short pieces as a birthday present for Bonnie, who then created a wonderful animation to accompany the composition. The animation is sharp and vivid, effectively capturing the essence of Elainie’s music. The two movements were very distinct from each other and yet the underlying elements of both the video and audio create a unifying piece.
Dreams in the Desert was inspired by a documentary about a tribe that must travel across the desert each year to sell salt so that they can have money or other goods to live on. This piece is conceived as a dream had by an eight-year-old boy who accompanies the tribe on the caravan for the first time. The source material for this piece apparently comes from various water sources. Ice cubes being dropped into a glass can be heard throughout in various forms. One can imagine dreaming about or longing for water while making such a journey.
Backroads is a fun piece composed in three movements that re-imagines various road trips that the composer has experienced. Elainie explains that this piece not only deals with the trip itself, but also explores the perspective of the travelers. Are the travelers inside or outside of the car? Are they dreaming or are they awake? This piece builds throughout the three-movement structure to a rapid and rhythmic climax that ends with the end of the road trip.
The final piece on the program was Listening Beyond… Elainie has been exploring Deep Listening a technique developed by composer Pauline Oliveros. Listening Beyond… explores the relationship between Deep Listening and electro acoustics. In this piece Elainie also employed a technique known as Ambisonics. Traditional electro-acoustic music explores left and right relationships and in multi-channel compositions front and back as well. With ambisonics the vertical dimension is added. This allows the composer to create a true surround sound environment.
For me the highlight of the program was Listening Beyond… While listening to this piece I was able to hear the vertical dimension of the sounds. The hall in which the concert was held is not an ideal place for a piece of this nature. This is because the speakers are mounted high on the wall close to the ceiling. With the speakers that high up it is hard to hear the vertical dimension. However, to my ear the sounds did have a different depth to them and I was able to imagine the intent.
This concert was presented through a joint effort by Dr. Joseph Harchanko of the department of music, Abby’s house and Wolfgang the student composer’s group, all at Western Oregon University. I would like to personally thank those groups and individuals for putting on an excellent concert. Elaine’s music is amazing and I am glad that I was able to attend this concert.
Dr. Elainie Lillios can be found on the web at http://mustech.bgsu.edu/~lillios or on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/elainiesacousmatics.
