Hear an hour of music that dives deep into the ocean where sunlight doesn’t reach, with work by Lithuanian composer Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, composer and violinist Matt McBane with Sandbox Percussion, French harpist and composer Laura Peruddin, and Berlin-based composer and audio technologist Floating Spectrum.
Listen to work by New York-based Lithuanian composer Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, from her latest record, Hadal Zone, which descends through the zones of the ocean depths from the Epipelagic zone (surface to 200 meters) to hadopelagic zone (6 to 11 km.) Written for bass clarinet, tuba, violoncello, contrabass, piano and electronics, the music is performed by the Lithuanian ensemble Synaesthesis, and features recorded samples of the San Francisco-based choral group Volti (conducted by Robert Geary.) Listen to several movements from the work, covering the uppermost surface of the ocean to the depths of the Mariana Trench, er… other ocean trenches.
Then, listen to some of composer, producer, and violinist Matt McBane’s collaboration with Sandbox Percussion, Bathymetry -inspired by the ocean floor and a “reference to how bass synthesizers affect percussive sounds, mimicking how the ocean floor shapes the waves above,” (National Sawdust .) Hear a part of the multimedia song cycle, Black Inscription, inspired by the true-life tale of the free diver Natalia Molchanova, who descended into the ocean in 2015 and never resurfaced. The work is a collaboration between violinist, vocalist and composer Carla Kihlstedt, drummer and composer/vocalist Matthias Bossi, and multi-instrumentalist/composer Jeremy Flower.
Plus, listen to work in keeping with this theme from French harpist and composer Laura Peruddin, as well as the Berlin-based composer and audio technologist Floating Spectrum, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4751, a deep dive - music for the bottom of the ocean (First aired 5/17/23)
ARTIST: Matt McBane and Sandbox Percussion
WORK: Matt McBane: Proximity [1:12]
RECORDING: Bathymetry
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: mattmcbane.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Žibuoklė Martinaitytė & Synaesthesis
WORK: Part I Epipelagic - 1 Canticum Oceani [4:48]
RECORDING: Hadal Zone
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: cantaloupemusic.com/albums/hadal-zone
ARTIST: Rabbit Rabbit Radio (Kihlstedt/Bossi/Flower)
WORK: Blue Abyss [4:25]
RECORDING: Black Inscription
SOURCE: RabbitRabbit Radio 004
INFO: rabbitrabbitradio.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Žibuoklė Martinaitytė & Synaesthesis
WORK: Part I Epipelagic - 3 Canto del mar [6:47]
RECORDING: Hadal Zone
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: cantaloupemusic.com/albums/hadal-zone
ARTIST: Laura Perrudin
WORK: Mesopelagic [3:14]
RECORDING: Poisons & Antidotes
SOURCE: Volatine/Wrasse
INFO: lauraperrudin.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: JG Thirlwell/Manorexia; David Cossin, percussion; Leyna Marika Papach, violin; Elena Moon Park, violin; Karen Waltuch, viola; Felix Fan, cello
WORK: Armadillo Stance [5:01]
RECORDING: Manorexia: The Mesopelagic Waters
SOURCE: Tzadik Records
INFO: jgthirlwell.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Floating Spectrum
WORK: Descent to the hadal zone [3:57]
RECORDING: A Point Between
SOURCE: Temporary Residence
INFO: https://floatingspectrum.bandcamp.com/album/a-point-between
ARTIST: Matt McBane and Sandbox Percussion
WORK: Matt McBane: Proximity [4:41]
RECORDING: Bathymetry
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: mattmcbane.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Joby Talbot
WORK: Tide Harmonic: Hadal Zone [6:58]
RECORDING: Tide Harmonic
SOURCE: Signum Classic
INFO: signumrecords.com