The Music of Stuart Jones

Transmogrifications I

Although I began formal work on Transmogrifications I for horn and tape in the fall of 1992, the original ideas for the piece germinated three years earlier. Around that time I began a number of conversations with fellow LUMEN composer Jon Nelson concerning the nature of electronic sounds and how these sounds interact with live instruments. Because of these conversations I concentrated on the area of sampling instruments digitally - that is, recording the instruments using digital recording equipment such as a DAT machine - and editing the samples to create different and perhaps novel sounds. I became interested in the timbral continuum of electronic sounds between those that sound similar to the original instrument samples and those that have been so altered in timbre that they sound strikingly different. In the case of Transmogrifications I, all of the sound events recorded on the tape part originated with some type of horn sound (e.g., long tone, short tone, trill, horn rip); however, some of the sounds are so transmogrified that they do not resemble the typical horn timbre . A new line of compositional development then results in trying to create and organize electronic sounds along this timbral continuum. As the live player presents the solo horn line, the tape part presents sounds that at times seem familiar and at other times foreign. Thus, the tape part both extends the horn timbre in its similarity and acts as a foil in its differences.

Performances

• Paul Basler, Miller Theatre, New York, NY April 28, 1993

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