Composer
Minnesota State University Moorhead concerns
James Harley, born 1959, Vernon, B.C., Canada, began studying composition
in 1980. Prior to that, he had been active as a pianist, jazz and classical,
played percussion, and also studied electroacoustics at Western Washington University. After graduating in 1982, he took up residence
in the UK, in order to study composition with Paul Patterson at the Royal
Academy of Music. Recipient of grants from the Canada
Council and the Leverhulme
Trust, among others, Harley remained in London for three years,
benefiting
from a number of performances and prizes. In 1985, having been awarded the prestigious
Mendelssohn Scholarship, which enables British composers to spend a period
abroad, he moved to Paris. There, Harley studied aesthetics with Iannis Xenak,
musical acoustics at the Université de Paris, attended seminars at
IRCAM and the College de France
(Pierre Boulez), and worked extensively with the UPIC computer music system
at CEMAMu. While in Paris, Harley won a number of prizes, including two
in the 1986 CBC Radio Young Composers Competition in Canada. Then, in
1987, Harley moved on to Warsaw, thanks to a Polish Government Scholarship,
to spend a year at the Chopin Academy of Music. He attended the composition
class of Wlodzimierz Kotonski, participated in the Summer Courses for Young
Composers organized by the Polish Society for Contemporary Music,
and had a piece premiered at the 1987 Warsaw Autumn Festival. In 1988,
Harley returned to North America, taking up doctoral studies at McGill University
in Montreal. Under the guidance of Bruce Pennycook and Bo Alphonce, he pursued
research there in the domain of computer-aided composition, developing CHAOTICS,
compositional software based on functions derived from chaos theory. Harley
graduated in 1994 with his D.Mus. in composition, having completed a large-scale
thesis work, Cantico Delle Creature, under the supervision of John Rea and Bruce
Mather. Over the next year, supported by a major Artist's Grant from the
Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Quebec, he composed a series of chamber
works, also teaching part-time in the Faculty of Music at McGill University.
In 1995, Harley took up a sabbatical replacement position as Assistant Professor
at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. There, he taught
composition, electroacoustics, contemporary music theory/literature, and directed
the Electronic Music Studio. At the same time, he completed a major commission
for the Musiques-Echanges festival in Montreal. In the fall of 1996,
Harley moved to Los Angeles, and has taught part-time at USC and the
California Institute of the Arts. In 1999, he began teaching in Minnesota,
directing the Music Technology program at Minnesota
State University Moorhead. He has continued to compose to various commissions,
and has seen a number of his works released on CD. Harley has three children: Marcin
(b. 1979), Ania (b. 1989), and
Ian
(b. 1993).
- McGill University, D.Mus., composition (John Rea, Bruce Mather,
Bruce Pennycook), 1988-1994
Chopin Academy of Music (Warsaw), postgraduate composition studies
(Wlodzimierz Kotonski), 1987-88
Universite de Paris, graduate seminars: musical acoustics (Michelle
Castellengo), aesthetics (Iannis Xenakis), 1985-87
Royal Academy of Music (London), Advanced Course, composition
(Paul Patterson), 1983-85
Western Washington University (Bellingham, Washington), B.Mus.
magna cum laude, composition (Edwin Labounty), jazz studies (Scott Reeves), 1977-82
- Associate Editor, Products & Reviews, Computer
Music Journal (from 1998).
Assistant Professor , 1999-, Minnesota
State University Moorhead
duties: Music Technology,
Recording Techniques, Computer Music, New Music Ensemble, ...
Lecturer (session), 1997, University
of Southern California
duties: 20th-Century Music History, graduate survey course WEBSITE
Lecturer (session), 1997, California Institute of the Arts
duties: core theory course, chromatic harmony
-
Assistant Professor, 1995-96, Wilfrid Laurier University
duties: composition tutorials and seminar, theory course, electroacoustic
music course, thesis advising, direction of student composer concerts, administer
electronic music studio and computer lab, auditions, recital juries, committee
work.
Instructor (part-time), 1989-95, McGill University
duties: music theory courses (all levels, from non-music students to advanced
music undergrads), history of electroacoustic music.
Concert Producer/Coordinator (freelance), 1989-1993
- "Gorecki Autumn," USC School of Music. Artistic Director of the October
1st 1997 concert, Solo and Chamber Music of Gorecki.
- "Hommage a Lutoslawski," CBC Radio/McGill University, October 1993
- "Xenakis at McGill," CBC Radio/McGill University, April 1993
- Administrative Council member, Codes d'Acces (new music concerts),
Montreal, 1992-93
duties: council meetings, membership committee, liaison committee
- Organizing Committee, 1991 International Computer Music Conference,
McGill University, 1990-1991
duties: music selection/programming (15 concerts), press relations,
liaison
with CBC Radio
- Executive Committee member, GEMS (electroacoustic ensemble),
McGill University, 1989-94
duties: programming, promotion, performing, concert production
- Executive Committee member, McGill Music Graduates Society,
1989-92
duties: composition area committee, coordinator of seminar series, Symposium
committee
Advanced Musical Training
(summer
courses, workshops)
Centre Acanthes, Villeneuve-les-Avignon, France:
- with Toru Takemitsu, July 1990
- with Olivier Messiaen, July 1987
- with Iannis Xenakis, July/August 1985
Pacific Composers Conference, Sapporo, Japan, July 1990-
with Chou Wen-Chung, Toshio Hosokawa, Jose Maceda, Peter Sculthorpe,
Chinary
Ung, Isang Yun, Joji Yuasa.
Summer Course for Young Composers, ISCM - Polish Section,
Kazimierz
Dolny, Poland:
- 1986, with Zygmunt Krauze, Frederick Rzewski, Robert Aitken, Frances-Marie
Uitti
- 1985, with Louis Andriessen, Thomas Keppler, Marek Kopelent
- 1984, with Andrzej Dobrowolski, Paul Patterson, Iannis Xenakis, Silesian
String
Quartet
IRCAM, Paris, France:
- Contemporary Music Analysis (1985/86): Robert Piencikowicz
- Micro-computers and MIDI (1985/86): David Wessel, et al
- Lectures (1985-87): Pierre Boulez, Tristan
Murail, George Benjamin, Helmut
Lachenmann
Atelier de Recherche Instrumentale, IRCAM, Paris, France, November
1985:
Pierre-Yves Artaud, Daniel Kientzy, Emmanuel Nunes, Luca Pfaff
CEMAMu, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France (1985-87), Iannis Xenakis -
director
UPIC
- graphic/music computer system: research, composition
-
The Banff Centre for the
Arts, Banff, Alberta:
Composer Residency, July 1991
Jazz Workshop (Dave Holland - artistic director), July 1982
- Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Quebec - "A" Grant: 1994-95,
Project
Grant:
1996
- Ministere des Affaires Culturelles, Quebec - Project Grant: 1993-94
- Canada
Council - "B" Grant: 1984-85,
Project Grants (1988, 1989, 1992)
- FCAR (Province of Quebec) Doctoral Fellowship, 1990
- Eric Scholarship (McGill, Faculty of Music) 1989, 1990
- McGill University Summer Bursary, 1989
- McConnell Fellowship (McGill University), 1988-90
- Polish Government Scholarship, 1987
- Mendelssohn Prize of Great Britain, 1985
- Canadian Centennial Scholarship (UK) Award, 1984
- Leverhulme Composition Fellowship (Royal Academy of Music), 1984
- British Columbia Cultural Fund, Advanced Study Award, 1982, 1981
- Western Washington University, Outstanding Music Graduate, 1982
- Arthur Hicks Piano Scholarship (Western Washington University), 1981
- British Columbia Academic Scholarship, 1977
- New Music Concerts
Composition Contest, Toronto, 1990,
2nd prize -
Neue
Bilder
- Witold Lutoslawski International Composers Competition, Warsaw, 1990,
2nd
prize - Windprints
- Irino Chamber Music Prize, Tokyo, 1989,
2nd prize - Per Foramen
Acus
Transire
- CAPAC Young Composers Competition, Canada:
- 1988, 2nd prize (orchestral) - Memories of a Landscape - II
- 1986, 3rd prize (choral) - Bells of Light
- 1985, 2nd prize (solo/duo) - Encounters II
- 1983, 2nd prize (orchestral) - Along the Riverrun ,
3rd prize
(chamber) -
Images
- CBC Radio Young Composers Competition, Canada, 1986
1st prize (percussion category) - Encounters II ,
2nd prize,
(orchestral
category) - Along the Riverrun
- Lloyds Bank Composers Competition, London, 1986,
Youth prize -
Lullaby
- MC2 Association Young Composers Competition, Avignon, France, 1985,
1st prize
- Encounters II
- Theodore Holland Award, London, 1985,
1st prize - String Quartet
- Yorkshire Arts Association Young Composers Competition, Huddersfield,
England, 1984
1st prize - Scenes From a Theatre on Mars
- Kazimierz Serocki International Composers Competition, Warsaw, 1984,
3rd prize
- Images
- Okanagan Music Festival for Composers, Kelowna, B.C., 1983
2nd prize (university class) - Bells of Light ,
2nd prize (orchestral
class) -
Along the Riverrun
- Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects, Toronto, 1983,
1st prize -
Five
Poems by Richard Brautigan
- Royal Academy of Music Composition Prizes:
- 1985 - Evan Senior Award, Eric Coates Prize - Overture Divertimento
- 1984 - Dominion Trust Award, Oliviera Prescott Award,
Joshuah
Parker Prize -
Stillness Dancing ,
William Elkin Prize - Exposures
- 1983 - Battison Haynes Prize - Along the Riverrun
- Elizabeth McNutt, Mississippi:
new work for piccolo and computer (c. 10 min.)
- Kappa Ensemble,
Montreal:
new work for experimental jazz ensemble (c. 15 min.)
- Isabelle Van Grimde/Ensemble contemporain de MontrÈal (2000):
Cachée for guitar and cello (c. 11 min.)
- Ensemble KORE, Montreal (1999):
Édifices (naturels) for solo piano (10 min.)
- Kappa Ensemble, Montreal (1998):
bien serré for experimental jazz ensemble (c. 20 min.)
- Hammerhead Consort/CBC, Edmonton (1997):
Consort: Dances of the Borealis for 2 pianos and 2 percussion (c. 15 min)
- Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra, Oshawa (1996):
Old Rock
for
symphony
orchestra (c. 10 min)
- Continuum
Contemporary Music, Toronto (1996):
Octane-VX for 8
instruments (c. 7
min)
- Marzena-North, Victoria (1996):
Spangled for tape (c. 5 min)
- Codes d'Acces/Champs d'Action, Belgium (1996):
Cuimhneachan
Urramach
for cello
and ensemble (c. 15 min)
- Marc
Couroux, Montreal (1995):
flung loose into the stars for
solo
piano (c. 10 min)
- Aitken-Tureski Duo, Toronto (1995):
Tyee for bass flute and
percussion
(c. 13 min)
- Trio Phoenix, Antwerp-Manchester-Montreal (1994):
Epanoui
for flute,
'cello and piano
(12 min)
- Arraymusic, Toronto
(1994):
Kaleidarray for 7 musicians (15
min)
- Ensemble Contemporain de
Montreal (1993):
N(ouvelle)aissance
for
chamber orchestra
(16 min)
- Arashi Daiko, Montreal (1993):
Wine of Dragons for Japanese
percussion ensemble (7
min)
- SMCQ, Montreal (1991):
Etude pour une Fete for 6 musicians
(6 min)
- Polish Centre of Art for Young People, Poznan (1988):
Tracings
for 3
percussionists (5
min)
- ISCM - Polish Section, Warsaw (1987):
one winter after(a flower)noon
for
soprano,
bass clarinet, cello,
piano (8 min)
- Vancouver Bach Choir, Vancouver (1987):
Reflections on a Prayer of
Saint
Augustine
for choir (13 min)
- WWU Concert Choir, Bellingham, USA (1986):
Jubilate Domino
for
choir and harp (7
min)
- Kelowna International Festival of the Arts, Kelowna, B.C. (1986):
Kaleide
for 4 guitars
(12 min)
- David Wilson, London, England (1985):
Sonnet Sonore for oboe
and
tape (13 min)
- Huddersfield Festival,
England (1984):
Scenes from a Theatre on Mars
for 2 actors, 5
musicians (15 min)
Books:
- The Music of Iannis Xenakis. Harwood Academic Publishers, 2002 (in
press).
Editor:
- Iannis Xenakis Studies. Contemporary Music Review, 2002 (forthcoming).
Articles:
- "Considerations of Lutoslawski's Conception of Symphonic Form." Lutoslawski
Studies, ed. Z. Skowron, Oxford University Press, 2001.
- "Formal Analysis of the Music of Iannis Xenakis by Means of 'Sonic Events':
Recent Orchestral Works." In Proceedings of Symposium "Présences
de Iannis Xenakis," Paris, 29-30 January 1998.
- "The New Nihilism: L'objet sonore and the music of Richard Barrett." Musicworks, no. 72 (Autumn 1998).
- "Iannis Xenakis: Rational Mystic, Architect of Sound." Muzyka: Polish Musicological Quarterly, Autumn 1998.
- "Affinities: The String Music of Iannis Xenakis." Muzyka, Autumn 1998.
- "Iannis Xenakis Online Bibliography and Discography.". Leonardo Journal Bibliography Project, 1998.
- "The String Quartets of Iannis Xenakis." TEMPO, January 1998.
- "Triumphs of Modernity: Xenakis's Kraanerg at the National Arts Centre." (w/
Maria Anna Harley) Musicworks,
January 1997.
- "Henryk
Mikolaj
Gorecki: Beyond the Marketing to the Music."
Sonances,
November 1996.
- "Iannis Xenakis at 75: Still Rich and Strange." The Musical Times, Nov.
1996.
- "Sonic and Parametrical Entities in Tetras: An Analytical Approach to the Music
of Iannis Xenakis." Canadian University Music Review, Vol. 16, No. 2, 1996.
- "The Residents: Musical Deconstruction of Popular Culture." (with Marc Couroux)
Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, September
1995.
- "Generative
Processes in Algorithmic Composition: Music and Chaos." Leonardo,
Vol. 28, No. 3, 1995.
- "Algorithms Adapted from Chaos Theory: Compositional Considerations."
Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference, September
1994.
- "Hommage a Lutoslawski." Bulletin of the Polish Institute of Arts and
Sciences in
Canada, Vol.
11, 1994.
- "Contemporary Music in Quebec." Alberta Composer, Vol. 1, No. 2, May
1994.
- "Commentary on Stephen Smoliar's 'Computers Compose Music, But Do We
Listen?'." Music
Theory Online, Vol. 0, No. 7, March 1994.
Reviews:
- "Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound (May 1998)." w/ Ellen Waterman. Computer
Music Journal, Vol. 23/1 (Spring 1999).
- "Xenakis Electrified: Three New Releases." MusicWorks, no. 71, 1998.
- "Xenakis: Electronic Music CD." Computer Music Journal, Vol. 22/2,
1998.
- "Six new Xenakis CDs." Computer Music Journal, Vol. 21/4, 1998.
- "Górecki Autumn at USC." MusicWorks, no. 70, March 1998.
- "Brian Ferneyhough: Bone Alphabet and On Stellar Magnitudes."
Sonances, January 1997.
- "Pascal Dusapin: three CDs." Sonances, January 1997.
- "Five recent Xenakis discs." Sonances, November 1996.
- "Birtwistle: Panic and other works." Sonances, November 1996.
- "Two new Xenakis recordings." Computer Music Journal,
Vol. 20, No. 2, 1996.
- "Review of two recordings of Xenakis." TEMPO, No. 196, April 1996.
- "CD Review: Gorecki, Part, Tavener." TEMPO, No. 194, October 1995.
- "Review of the 'Pressure Points' disc by Sound Pressure." Computer Music
Journal, Vol. 19, No. 1, 1995.
- "The Fractal Nature of Music." Musicworks, Vol. 61, Spring 1995,
pp. 78-80.
- "Lutoslawski at McGill." Music McGill, Issue 25, Fall 1994, p. 7.
- "Review of Le Timbre--Metaphore pour la Composition." Computer Music
Journal, Vol. 18, No. 3, 1994.
- "Review of five compact discs by Henryk Gorecki." TEMPO, No. 187,
December 1993.
- "Review of a compact disc by Iannis Xenakis." TEMPO, No. 184, March
1993.
PWM Edition:
-
Daring the Wilderness
- Images
- Memories of a Landscape
address:
al. Krasinskiego 11a,
31-111 Cracow, Poland
tel/fax: (48-22) 220-174
in North America, contact:
Theodore Presser,
1 Presser Place,
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010-3490
tel: (215) 527-7841 / fax: (215) 525-3636
Canadian Music Centre:
- Cantico delle Creature
- Can(y)on
- Cuimhneachan Urramach
- Encounters - II
- Épanoui
- Étude pour une Fête
- flung loose into the stars
- Here The Bird
- Jazz
- Kekula
- N(ouvelle)aissance
- Octane-VX
- Old Rock
- Piano
- Portrait
- Prelude (Under the Thin Rainfall)
- Soft Morning
- Song for Nobody
- Stillness Dancing
- Tapisse(rêve)rie
- Two Psalms
- Tyee
- Variation: A Little Beyond
- Windprints
- Wine of Dragons
address:
416, rue McGill
Montreal, QC, H2Y 2G1 (Canada)
tel: (514) 866-3477 / fax: (514) 866-0456
email: cmc_que@cam.org
website: http://www.musiccentre.ca
- bien serré. KAPPA Ensemble, Philippe Keyser - director,
2001.
- Can(y)on. Arraymusic.
Artifact Records ART 025, 2001.
- flung loose into the stars. Marc Couroux - piano. ATMA Records,
2000.
- Sabbath. KAPPA Ensemble, Philippe
Keyser - director, 1998.
- Night-flowering...not even sand - II. CD-Rom, McGill University,
2000.
- flung loose
into the stars. MusicWorks CD, no. 69, 1997.
- Voyage.
Presences (PeP-001), Canadian Electroacoustic
Community. 1997.
- Song for Nobody.
Roads to Chaos, Soundprints 96003, 1996.
- Windprints (excerpt). Canadian Music Centre Orchestral Repertoire,
Vol. 3, Centrediscs. 1992.
- Night-flowering...not
even sand - II (excerpt). DisContact I, Canadian Electroacoustic
Community, 1992.
- Canada:
- Robert Aitken - flute,
- Aitken-Tureski Duo - flute/percussion
- Marc Couroux - piano
- Dhavernas-Gregoire Duo - percussion
- Pauline Minevitch - clarinet
- Joseph Petric - accordion
- Brigitte Poulin - piano
- Paul Pulford - cello
- Barbara Pritchard - piano
- Robert Stevenson - clarinet
- Wilcox-Poulin Duo - viola/piano
- Arraymusic, Michael
Baker - conductor
- Banff Festival Chamber Players, Tom Ralston - conductor
- Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Chosei Komatsu - conductor
- Codes d'Acces/SCAQ, Mario Gauthier - conductor
- Continuum Contemporary Music, Rosemary Thomson - conductor
- l'Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal, Veronique Lacroix - conductor
- Les Evenements du Neuf, Lorraine Vaillancourt - conductor
- Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Victor Feldbrill - conductor
- New Music Concerts, Robert
Aitken - conductor
- Nouvel Ensemble
Moderne, Lorraine Vaillancourt - conductor
- Okanagan Symphony, Leonard Camplin - conductor
- Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra, Marco Parisotto - conductor
- Saskatoon Symphony, Daniel Swift - conductor
- SMCQ, Veronique Lacroix - conductor, Walter Boudreau - conductor
- Thirteen Strings, Brian Law - conductor
- Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Gary Kulesha - conductor
- Vancouver Bach Choir, Bruce Pullan - conductor
- Victoria Symphony, Glen Fast - conductor
- Great Britain:
- Arditti Quartet
- Delta Saxophone Quartet
- English Guitar Quartet
- Jane Manning - soprano
- Nancy Ruffer - flute
- Nash Ensemble
- Jennifer Stinson - flute
- Simon Turner - cello
- Mary Wiegold - soprano
- David Wilson - oboe
- BBC Ulster Orchestra, Coleman Pearce - conductor
- Circle Ensemble, Gregory Rose - conductor
- Gemini Ensemble, Peter Wiegold - conductor
- Lontano Ensemble, Odaline de la Martinez - conductor
- West Hampstead Symphony, Richard Gonski - conductor
- Poland:
- Henryka Januszewska - soprano
- Stanislaw Skocinski - percussion
- Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, Agnieszka Duczmal - conductor
- Cracow Sinfonietta, Piotr Sulkowski - conductor
- Musica Centrum, Stanislaw Welanyk - conductor
- National Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazimierz Kord - conductor
- Germany:
- Freiburg Percussion Duo
- Camilla
Hoitenga - flute
- Virginia Palmer-Fuchsell - soprano
- Belgium:
- Champ d Action, Celso Antunes - conductor
- Trio Phoenix (Lieve Schuermans, Simon Turner, Brigitte Poulin)
- Almeida Festival (London): Jazz
- American Festival of Microtonal Music (New York): Night-flowering...not
even sand - I
- Ars Electronica (Linz): Voyage
- Ars Musica (Brussels): flung loose into the stars
- Bourges "Synthese": Voyage
- Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music: Per Foramen Acus Transire
- Edmonton New Music Festival: Jazz, Epanoui
- Electric Music Festival (Newcastle): Per Foramen Acus Transire
- Greenwich Festival (London): Epanoui
- Huddersfield Festival:
Scenes from a Theatre on Mars
- International Computer Music Conference: Per Foramen Acus Transire
(Cologne), Spangled (Thessalonika)
- ISCM World Music Days: Bells of Light (Aarhus), Memories of
a Landscape - II (Warsaw)
- Kelowna International Festival of the Arts (Canada): Kaleide
- "Made in Canada" Festival (Toronto): Octane-VX
- Montreal Internation Jazz Festival: Pinky Oozegreen and the Mossbrains
- Musica Nova (Glasgow): Stillness Dancing
- Musica Nova (Sofia): Òpanoui
- Musiques-Echange (Montreal/Belgium): Tapisse(reve)rie, flung loose
into the stars
- Nemo Festival (Chicago): Spangled
- Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound: Octane-VX
- Seattle Spring: Jazz, Night-flowering...not even sand - II
- Sound Symposium (St. John's, Newfoundland): Ma'dhanah
- Southampton International New Music Week: Prelude (Under the Thin
Rainfall)
- Warsaw Autumn: Images, one winter after(a flower)noon, Voyage
- Couroux, Marc: "Daring the Wilderness: The Music of James Harley," Musicworks,
no. 69 (December 1997).
"Harley's music is inextricably bound to his love for nature. His
compositions eschew traditional means of expression...He does not
seek to represent the surface of nature, but rather its inner workings,
often represented through digital modeling using computers. His discovery
of the "fractal geometry of nature" led him in 1989 to develop his
own compositional software, adapted from chaos theory, in order to
explore nonlinear musical structures. Amazingly, in spite of a solidification
of compositional means, Harley's output remains remarkably fresh and
full of surprises...Harley's fascination with "wilderness" is also
directly reflected in his attraction to "ecstatic states," experienced,
for instance, in a profoundly spiritual and mystical union with nature...Throughout
all of his music, however, whether transparently simple or fiercely
complex, there runs an unmistakable lyricism, sustained by a constancy
of purpose and coherent structure...The intensity of experience that
he creates, the prime factor underlying all his work, serves to reveal
the complexity and beauty, both physical and spiritual, of the natural
world. He will no doubt continue "daring the wilderness."
- Couroux, Marc: "Affronter l'inouï: la musique de James Harley."
Musicworks Online.
- Couroux, Marc: "James Harley." Circuit, Vol. 8/1 (Spring 1999).
- Ferguson, Sean: "Musique-Echange: Quebec-Belgique," Musicworks
65, Summer 1996, 43-45.
..."James Harley, one of the most inventive Canadian composers of
his generation, had the distinction of being the most-programmed composer
of the festival, with his Tapisse(reve)rie the first of his
three scheduled pieces"...
Homma, Martina: "James Harley." In Komponisten der Gegenwart Gesamtverzeichnis.
Munich: Edition text-kritik.
- Authors:
Filmmakers
Musicians
- Art
Ensemble of Chicago (completely blew me away, back when I was
jazzing ... and still do)
- John Cage (provocative,
liberating ... and what a great chuckle!)
- Olivier Messiaen
(courage--to follow his own path. And, such sonic colour!)
- The Residents (the early
stuff, especially. Too strange!)
- Toru Takemitsu
(Zen-like generosity--he wanted to know what we were doing
in our music!)
- Tarika Sammy
(and lots more music from around the globe.)
- Cecil Taylor
(no one else even comes close)
- Tom Waits
(love that voice! Nighthawk at the Diner, Bone Machine)
- Iannis Xenakis
(one of those extraordinary beings you come across but rarely)
Places
- Abu Dhabi (the desert is extraordinary--stark, but so beautiful)
- Delphi (a center of Western civilization, but wild and mysterious
too)
- Okanagan Valley (Kalamalka Lake, especially)
- Paris (bien sur!)
- Patagonia (never been, but would love to see those mountains!)
- The Rockies (ever hiked into Mount Assiniboine?)
- Whistler (is there a better place to ski, anywhere?)
MUSIC THEATRE
- Scenes From a Theatre on Mars (1984) 15 min.
(Text: James Harley, adapted from The Last Days of Mankind
by Karl Kraus)
2 speaking/acting roles (1 male, 1 female), 2 cl (2nd doubles
sax), tp/flugel, vn/vl, vc.
ORCHESTRA
- Kekula (Memories of a Landscape - III) (1992) 15 min.
2-2-2-2/4-2-2-1/strings.
- N(ouvelle)aissance (1994) 16 min.
chamber orchestra (1-2-0-2/2-0-0-0/1 perc./4-4-3-2-1)
- Old Rock (1996) 10 min.
2-2-2-2/4-2-2-1/timp/strings
- Overture Divertimento (1984) 8 min.
2-2-2-2/2-2-2-0/timp/strings.
- Windprints (1989) 15 min.
2-2-2-2/4-2-2-1/3 percussion/piano/strings(16-14-12-10-8).
LARGE CHAMBER (5 or more instruments)
- Can(y)on
(1997) 3 min.
clarinet, trumpet, vibraphone, marimba, piano, violin, double
bass.
- Cuimhneachan Urramach (1996) 15 min.
solo cello and chamber ensemble (1-1-1-1/1-1-1-0/1pc/1pf/1-1-1-1-1).
- Daring the Wilderness (1991) 12 min.
percussion ensemble (5 players).
- Etude pour une Fete (Jazz II) (1991) 6 min.
alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone, violoncello, contrabass, piano.
(versions for other instrumentations are available).
- Images (1983) 17 min.
flute, vibraphone, violin, viola, violoncello.
- Kaleidarray (Jazz III) (1994) 15 min.
violin/bass violin, clarinet/bass clarinet, trumpet, thai gongs,
vibraphone, marimba, piano.
- Memories of a Landscape - II (1988) 15 min.
13 strings (4-4-2-2-1).
- Mobile (1984) 18 min.
10 trombones (8 tenors, 2 bass), 2 percussion.
- Neue Bilder (Der Holle Rache) (1991) 10 min.
piccolo, oboe, Eb clarinet, trumpet, percussion, viola, violoncello,
contrabass.
- Octane-VX (1996) 8 min.
flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, contrabass.
- Prelude (Under the Thin Rainfall) (1985) 7 min.
flute, clarinet, horn, harp, violin, cello.
- Stillness Dancing (1983, revised 1984) 10 min.
flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, percussion, piano, violin,
viola, cello, bass.
- Tapisse(reve)rie (1986) 13 min.
flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, violin,
viola, cello, bass.
- Wine of Dragons (1993) 7 min.
Version I: Taiko ensemble (Japanese percussion) - 9 performers.
Version II (1997): 9 percussion.
SMALL CHAMBER (1 - 4 instruments)
- Consort: Dances of the Borealis (1998) 15 min.
two pianos, two percussion.
- Encounters - II (1984) 10 min.
percussion duo.
- Épanoui (1995) 12 min.
flute (doubling alto and piccolo), violoncello, piano.
- Exh... (1999) 5 min.
piccolo solo.
- Exposures (1984) 7 min.
horn solo.
- Here the Bird (1993) 13 min.
viola, piano.
- Jazz (1985) 7 min.
saxophone quartet (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone).
- Night-flowering ... not even sand - I (1989) 12 min.
bassoon and tape.
- Per Foramen Acus Transire (1987) 15 min.
flute/bass flute and tape.
- Portrait (1984) 8 min.
flute solo.
-
Song
for Nobody (1990) 8 min.
clarinet solo (alternative version for bass clarinet with extended
low register).
- String Quartet (1984) 10 min.
2 violins, viola, violoncello.
- Tyee (1995) 13 min.
bass flute (amplified) and percussion duo.
KEYBOARD
- Édifices (naturels) (2000) 10 min.
piano solo.
- flung
loose into the stars (1995) 11 min.
piano solo.
- Ma'dhanah (1990) 12 min.
accordion solo.
- Piano (1989) 14 min.
piano solo.
- Variations (1989) 21 min.
piano solo.
VOCAL
- Five Poems by Richard Brautigan (1981) 8 min.
mezzo-soprano, flute, violoncello, percussion, piano.
- one winter after(a flower)noon (1987) 8 min. (text by
e.e. cummings).
soprano, bass clarinet, violoncello, piano.
- Singing a silence of stone (1983) 6 min. (text by e.e.
cummings).
soprano, harp, 2 percussion.
- Soft Morning (1983) 7 min. (text by James Joyce).
soprano solo (2001: new version for mezzo-soprano).
CHORAL
- Cantico delle Creature (1993) 23 min. (text by St. Francis
of Assisi).
mezzo-soprano, choir (SSAATTBB), chamber orchestra (2-2-2-2/2-2-2-0/3
perc./piano, celeste/strings: 2-2-2-2-2), computer-generated sounds.
- Reflections on a Prayer of Saint Augustine (1987) 13
min.
(text in Latin from St. Augustine's Confessions, and The
Song of Songs.)
SATB chorus (36 parts).
- Two Psalms (1986) 14 min.
Lullaby (Psalm 23), Jubilate Domino (Psalm 100).
SATB chorus, harp.
ELECTROACOUSTIC
- Anasazi: Kokopeli I (2001) 11 min.
amplified piccolo, live processing, pre-recorded sounds (stereo).
- Chaotika (2001) 10 min.
percussion, live processing, pre-recorded sounds (stereo).
- Jardinages - I (2000) 6 min.
electric guitar and pre-recorded sounds.
- Jardinages - II (2000) 6 min.
pre-recorded sounds (stereo).
-
Night-flowering
... not even sand - II (1990) 9 min.
computer-generated tape (stereo).
- On Frogs (2000) c. 11 min.
reciter, live electronics (3 computer operators)
- Spangled (1996) 5 min.
tape (stereo).
-
Voyage
(1986) 15 min.
computer-generated tape (quadraphonic).
- Xmix (2001) 12 min.
pre-recorded sounds (stereo)
JAZZ/MUSIQUE ACTUELLE
- bien serré (1999) 20 min.
big band.
- Sabbath (1981) 20 min.
big band.
- The Tail of Pinky Oozgreen and the Mossbrains (or another
disgusting rendition of "I Got Rhythm" (1983) 20 min.
big band.
James Harley
504 5th Street South
Moorhead, MN 56560 (USA)
tel: (218) 287-5708; fax: (775) 205-7781
email: jharley239@aol.com
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