Marc Sabat
Encyclopedia
Marc Sabat is a Canadian composer
based in Berlin since 1999.
), American folk and experimental music
s, Minimal Art, and collaborations with other artists. His work is presented internationally in radio broadcasts and at festivals of new music including the Donaueschinger Musiktage, MaerzMusik, Darmstadt and Carnegie Hall
. His works do not fall into a single personal style, but they generally share a crystalline clarity of texture and a seek to focus listeners' perception of sounding structures into a process of musical 'thinking'. Sabat is a frequent collaborator, having worked often with visual artists and other composers, including brother painter and filmmaker Peter Sabat. Other collaborators include John Oswald (composer)
, Martin Arnold, Nicolas Fernandez, Matteo Fargion, Wolfgang von Schweinitz
, Stefan Bartling. Most recently, since 2006 he has been working on a series of works combining his composition with the sculptural work of Düsseldorf-based sculptor and painter Lorenzo Pompa.
. Together with Wolfgang von Schweinitz
he conceived and developed a method of staff notation for JI ratios called The Extended Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch Notation. He has also studied JI intervals empirically on string and brass instruments, developing a list of so-called "tuneable intervals": ratios within a three-octave span which can readily be tuned by ear using electronic or acoustic sounds. These intervals have been used in a number of recent compositions and also are the basis of a self-tuning computer algorithm ("Micromaelodeon") which is currently under development. The most recent version was implemented in April 2009 on a Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard and programmed in MaxMSP.
, at the Juilliard School
in New York, as well as working privately with Malcolm Goldstein
, James Tenney
and Walter Zimmermann
. He attended courses in electronic and computer music at McGill University
. In 2008-9 he took part in a postgraduate pilot project initiated by the Berlin University of the Arts, the Graduiertenschule für die Künste und die Wissenschaften.
He teaches courses in composition, acoustics and experimental intonation at the Universität der Künste Berlin, and has been a guest artist at the California Institute of the Arts
, at the Escola Superior in Barcelona and the Paris Conservatoire.
In fall 2010, he was artist-in-residence of the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, followed by a one-year Stipendium at the German Academy in Rome, Villa Massimo. Previous residencies include Akademie Schloss Solitude
(1997–98, music juror: Christian Wolff
), Herrenhaus Edenkoben (1996, music juror: Peter Eötvös
).
of the 20th Century. He has recorded CDs of music by James Tenney
, Morton Feldman
, Christian Wolff
, and Maria de Alvear
, amongst others. In the 1990s, whilst living in Toronto, he formed a duo with pianist Stephen Clarke, as well as performing with the Modern Quartet and Arraymusic
. Like the great American pianist and electronic musician David Tudor
, in recent years Sabat has largely abandoned a concert career in favor of creating his own music.
----
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
based in Berlin since 1999.
Works
He has made installations, video works and concert music pieces using acoustic instruments and, in some recent pieces, computer-generated electronics, drawing inspiration from investigations of the sounding and perception of small number relations (Just IntonationJust intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
), American folk and experimental music
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
s, Minimal Art, and collaborations with other artists. His work is presented internationally in radio broadcasts and at festivals of new music including the Donaueschinger Musiktage, MaerzMusik, Darmstadt and Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. His works do not fall into a single personal style, but they generally share a crystalline clarity of texture and a seek to focus listeners' perception of sounding structures into a process of musical 'thinking'. Sabat is a frequent collaborator, having worked often with visual artists and other composers, including brother painter and filmmaker Peter Sabat. Other collaborators include John Oswald (composer)
John Oswald (composer)
John Oswald is a Canadian composer, saxophonist, media artist and dancer. His best known project is Plunderphonics, the practice of making new music out of previously existing recordings .-Philosophy:Oswald coined the term "plunderphonics" to describe his craft in a paper called which he...
, Martin Arnold, Nicolas Fernandez, Matteo Fargion, Wolfgang von Schweinitz
Wolfgang von Schweinitz
Wolfgang von Schweinitz is a German composer of classical music.Schweinitz studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, from 1971 to 1973 with Gernot Klussmann and from 1973 to 1975 with György Ligeti. He continued his studies at the Stanford University with John Chowning...
, Stefan Bartling. Most recently, since 2006 he has been working on a series of works combining his composition with the sculptural work of Düsseldorf-based sculptor and painter Lorenzo Pompa.
Research
Since the early 1990s, Sabat has been reinvestigating harmony by studying the theory and musical applications of Just IntonationJust intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
. Together with Wolfgang von Schweinitz
Wolfgang von Schweinitz
Wolfgang von Schweinitz is a German composer of classical music.Schweinitz studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, from 1971 to 1973 with Gernot Klussmann and from 1973 to 1975 with György Ligeti. He continued his studies at the Stanford University with John Chowning...
he conceived and developed a method of staff notation for JI ratios called The Extended Helmholtz-Ellis JI Pitch Notation. He has also studied JI intervals empirically on string and brass instruments, developing a list of so-called "tuneable intervals": ratios within a three-octave span which can readily be tuned by ear using electronic or acoustic sounds. These intervals have been used in a number of recent compositions and also are the basis of a self-tuning computer algorithm ("Micromaelodeon") which is currently under development. The most recent version was implemented in April 2009 on a Haken Audio Continuum Fingerboard and programmed in MaxMSP.
Current and Upcoming Projects
Current projects include a retrospective of his complete piano music in Basel to be performed by Daan Vandewalle, new works in his ongoing collaboration with Lorenzo Pompa ('Loss and Gain'), and chamber music pieces for various ensembles, including Ensemble Kaleidoskop (Berlin), the Formalist Quartet (Los Angeles), the Sonar Quartett (Berlin) and the Penderecki Quartet (Kitchener). Together with artist Mareike Lee, he curated the series zwielicht in 2009 and 2010.Studies, Teaching, Residencies
Sabat studied at the University of TorontoUniversity of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York, as well as working privately with Malcolm Goldstein
Malcolm Goldstein
Malcolm Goldstein is a composer, violinist and improviser who has been active in the presentation of new music and dance since the early 1960s. He received an M.A. in music composition from Columbia University in 1960, having studied with Otto Luening...
, James Tenney
James Tenney
James Tenney was an American composer and influential music theorist.-Biography:Tenney was born in Silver City, New Mexico, and grew up in Arizona and Colorado. He attended the University of Denver, the Juilliard School of Music, Bennington College and the University of Illinois...
and Walter Zimmermann
Walter Zimmermann
Walter Zimmermann is a German composer.Zimmermann studied composition in Germany with Werner Heider and Mauricio Kagel, the theory of musical intelligence at the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht , and computer music at Colgate University in New York.Zimmerman's works are infused by a personal...
. He attended courses in electronic and computer music at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
. In 2008-9 he took part in a postgraduate pilot project initiated by the Berlin University of the Arts, the Graduiertenschule für die Künste und die Wissenschaften.
He teaches courses in composition, acoustics and experimental intonation at the Universität der Künste Berlin, and has been a guest artist at the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
, at the Escola Superior in Barcelona and the Paris Conservatoire.
In fall 2010, he was artist-in-residence of the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, followed by a one-year Stipendium at the German Academy in Rome, Villa Massimo. Previous residencies include Akademie Schloss Solitude
Akademie Schloss Solitude
The Akademie Schloss Solitude is a foundation under public law. The main aspect of the Akademie is to promote mainly younger, particularly gifted artists by means of residency fellowships and also by organizing events and exhibitions by its residents...
(1997–98, music juror: Christian Wolff
Christian Wolff (composer)
Christian G. Wolff is an American composer of experimental classical music.-Biography:Wolff was born in Nice in France to German literary publishers Helen and Kurt Wolff, who had published works by Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, and Walter Benjamin. After relocating to the U.S...
), Herrenhaus Edenkoben (1996, music juror: Peter Eötvös
Peter Eötvös
Péter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer and conductor.Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, Transylvania . He studied composition in Budapest and Cologne. From 1962, he composed for film in Hungary. Eötvös played regularly with the Stockhausen Ensemble between 1968 and...
).
Career as Violinist
Beginning in the 1980s, Sabat has also been active as a performer on violin and adapted viola, concentrating primarily on American Experimental MusicExperimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
of the 20th Century. He has recorded CDs of music by James Tenney
James Tenney
James Tenney was an American composer and influential music theorist.-Biography:Tenney was born in Silver City, New Mexico, and grew up in Arizona and Colorado. He attended the University of Denver, the Juilliard School of Music, Bennington College and the University of Illinois...
, Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
, Christian Wolff
Christian Wolff (composer)
Christian G. Wolff is an American composer of experimental classical music.-Biography:Wolff was born in Nice in France to German literary publishers Helen and Kurt Wolff, who had published works by Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, and Walter Benjamin. After relocating to the U.S...
, and Maria de Alvear
Maria de Alvear
Maria de Alvear is a Spanish-German composer living in Germany who was born to Spanish father and German mother.-References:*- External links :* * *...
, amongst others. In the 1990s, whilst living in Toronto, he formed a duo with pianist Stephen Clarke, as well as performing with the Modern Quartet and Arraymusic
Arraymusic
Arraymusic is a Canadian organization specializing in the performance and the promotion of contemporary classical music. It presents its virtuosic 7-member chamber ensemble, The Array Ensemble, each summer season in a 3-month series of Toronto-based concerts....
. Like the great American pianist and electronic musician David Tudor
David Tudor
David Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
, in recent years Sabat has largely abandoned a concert career in favor of creating his own music.
List of works
source:2010-
- Hairy Hippy Happy (double horn, tenorbass trombone, 5-valve F-tuba; 2010)
- String Quartet 2 (Cucumber Variation) (2 violins, viola, cello; 2010)
- Composition for La Monte Young (February 2010) (two players, twice the same instrument; 2010)
2000-2009
- 2nd WAKE (for Bob) (computer-controlled Fokker organ in 31-tone equal temperament; 2009)
- Cucumber Serenades (Gurkenlieder) (violin solo, violin choir, electronic tones; 2009)
- Tristan, Isolde (2 pianos; 2009)
- Father's suit and watch (video ballet; 2009; made with Lorenzo Pompa)
- Garden Songs (prerecorded voice, alto flute, dobro, percussion; 2009; text by Wolfgang Betke)
- eudaimonia (piano; 2009; composed with Stefan Bartling)
- Erbsen (5 recorders or solo recorder with prerecorded track; 2009)
- By the Rivers of Babylon (bass and mezzo-soprano voices, adapted viola and synthesizer; 2008; based on words and melody notated by Harry Partch)
- De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine (viola, bass violin and cello – each instrumentalist must also sing; 2008)
- Claudius Ptolemy (violin, cello; 2008)
- November 15, 1935 – Leaving Santa Barbara (version for solo intoning voice and violin; 2007; based on words and melody notated by Harry PartchHarry PartchHarry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...
) - wave piano scenery player (MIDI piano, computer and live performer; 2007; made with Lorenzo Pompa)
- reminded again (music scenery for accordion/harmonium and electronic tones; 2007)
- WAKE for JIM (player-piano and live performer; 2007)
- reminded of charlemagne Palestine (violin, cello, piano; 2007)
- AUTOMAT (music scenery for 2 violins and video; 2007; made with Peter Sabat)
- November 15, 1935 – Leaving Santa Barbara (version for solo intoning voice and adapted viola with spoken, sung and played accompaniment on violin, viola, and violoncello; 2006; based on words and melody notated by Harry PartchHarry PartchHarry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...
) - By the Rivers of Babylon (version for solo intoning voice and adapted viola with spoken, sung and played accompaniment on horn, trombone, and tuba; 2006; based on words and melody notated by Harry PartchHarry PartchHarry Partch was an American composer and instrument creator. He was one of the first twentieth-century composers to work extensively and systematically with microtonal scales, writing much of his music for custom-made instruments that he built himself, tuned in 11-limit just intonation.-Early...
) - Wonderful Scatter (music scenery for 6-valve F tuba, computer, filtered loudspeaker; 2005)
- Spectral Canon No. 1 (for James Tenney) (12 contrabasses or solo contrabass with delay; 2005)
- Les Duresses : a book of music in Just Intonation (solo violin/2 violins; 2004-)
- Henrys Cowbell DJ & Strike (5 percussionists and computer-generated electronic tones; 2004)
- Three For Magister Zacharias (installation; 2004; made with Peter Sabat)
- John Jenkins (string trio and 2-manual harpsichord in Helmholtz Temperament; 2003)
- Three For Magister Zacharias (DVD-Video with 5-channel sound; 2002; made with Peter Sabat)
- Artificial Music for Machines (MIDI-output acoustic piano, computer-generated tuned sinetones; 2002)
- Change in your pocket (DVD-Video with 2-channel sound; 2002; made with Nicolas FernandezNicolás FernándezNicolás Alejandro Fernández is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. He sits in the Argentine Senate representing Santa Cruz Province in the majority block of the Front for Victory....
and Peter Sabat) - Johann Sebastian Bach RICERCAR Musikalisches Opfer 1 INTONATION (any 3 appropriate instruments in Just IntonationJust intonationIn music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
; 2001; made with Wolfgang von SchweinitzWolfgang von SchweinitzWolfgang von Schweinitz is a German composer of classical music.Schweinitz studied composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, from 1971 to 1973 with Gernot Klussmann and from 1973 to 1975 with György Ligeti. He continued his studies at the Stanford University with John Chowning...
) - John Jenkins (6 instruments & 2-manual harpsichord in Helmholtz Temperament; 2001)
- Hope (male and female voice, bass flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano; 2000; text by PhilostratusPhilostratusPhilostratus or Lucius Flavius Philostratus , , called "the Athenian", was a Greek sophist of the Roman imperial period. His father was a minor sophist of the same name. He was born probably around 172, and is said by the Suda to have been living in the reign of emperor Philip the Arab . His death...
, translated by Christian WolffChristian Wolff (composer)Christian G. Wolff is an American composer of experimental classical music.-Biography:Wolff was born in Nice in France to German literary publishers Helen and Kurt Wolff, who had published works by Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, and Walter Benjamin. After relocating to the U.S...
) - YOU MAY NOT WANT TO BE HERE (after Bruce NaumanBruce NaumanBruce Nauman is a contemporary American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives in Galisteo, New Mexico....
) (violin, piano, voices; 2000; composed with Matteo Fargion) - Idyllily (11 solo strings [6,2,2,1] and obbligato voices; 2000; composed with Martin ArnoldMartin ArnoldMartin Arnold is an experimental filmmaker known for his obsessive reworkings of found footage. He is also a founding member of the Austrian film distributor Sixpack Film. Arnold studied psychology and art history at the University of Vienna...
, John OswaldJohn OswaldJohn Oswald may refer to:* John Oswald , Scottish philosopher, writer, and revolutionary* John Oswald , British general...
, Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
)
----
1990-1999
- 4 piano inventions (piano; 1999)
- Backyard summer patio (bass clarinet, percussion, piano; 1999)
- Three Fleshy Loves (clarinet, violin, cello, piano; 1998)
- Everlasting sweet peas (3 violins; 1998)
- Ein modernes Kaufhaus (clarinet, trombone, cello, piano; 1998)
- Trio for piano violin cello (1998)
- New shoes, without laces (monodrama for female voice, accordion, violin, cello, percussion; 1998; text by Nicolas FernandezNicolás FernándezNicolás Alejandro Fernández is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician. He sits in the Argentine Senate representing Santa Cruz Province in the majority block of the Front for Victory....
) - Change in your pocket (performance for any string instrument & digital delay; 1997)
- Mein Mantel ist weg for Ensemble Da Noi (whistling, saxophones, violin, electric bass, harpsichord; 1997)
- An Opera (violin and clavichord or marimba; 1997; based on a text by Emmett WilliamsEmmett WilliamsEmmett Williams was an American poet and visual artist.Williams was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and grew up in Virginia, and lived in Europe from 1949 to 1966...
) - You & Mr Mason (11 piano players with no previous experience required; 1997)
- for solo voice (soprano; 1997)
- For Magister Zacharias (performance for amplified Steinway piano mechanism; 1997)
- Nocturne (piano; 1996)
- pier (ships horns; 1996; composed with John OswaldJohn OswaldJohn Oswald may refer to:* John Oswald , Scottish philosopher, writer, and revolutionary* John Oswald , British general...
) - Quiet Winter (violin solo, 3 saxophones, 2 clarinets, violin, cello, bass; 1996)
- Composition for trumpet and bass drum (1996)
- 2 piano studies (1995)
- Beautiful city (string quartet; 1994)
- 3 Chorales for Harry Partch (violin, viola; 1993)
External links
- PLAINSOUND MUSIC EDITION
- Wikipedia: musical pieces using extended techniques