Commissioned by New Morse Code + consortium. Supported by Avaloch Farm Music Institute and New Morse Connections Kickstarter, with additional support from Paul Wiancko
Produced and mixed by David Crowell
Engineered by Dave Snyder at Guilford Sound, additional engineering in Brooklyn by David Crowell
Mastered by Charles Van Kirk
Technical Information
ca. 12’
3 celli, vibraphone, drumset, voice, electronics, with optional electric guitar
Premiered January 14, 2020
Performance History
January 14, 2020
The Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ
World Premiere Performance
About the Work
Catharsis is about emotional turmoil and release. The music was commissioned by New Morse Code and a consortium of cellists and percussionists, for an expanded version of a cello / percussion duo. Additional elements include electronics, which can be performed live or with tape, and multiple voice parts to be performed by a single looping vocalist. When New Morse Code is performing the piece, the vocal parts can be performed by Hannah Collins (cello 3).
Read more about the development of this work on Michael’s website.
About the Composer
New York City based composer, instrumentalist, and producer David Crowell brings a “singular vision that transcends genre” (Exclaim) to diverse forms of composed and improvisational music, and has been praised for compositional work that is "notable for its crystalline sonic beauty" (Boston Globe) and which “pulses with small, ecstatic fibrillations” (New York Times).
David’s music has been performed internationally at festivals and concert venues including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Carnegie Hall (Weill), Lucerne Festival Spotlights Series, MATA Festival, Bang on a Can Summer Marathon, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Library of Congress, London Jazz Festival, Cortona Sessions for New Music, Caramoor Festival, Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival, American Music Festival (EMPAC), Tribeca New Music Festival, National Sawdust, Merkin Hall, and Joe’s Pub.
Commissioning ensembles and universities have included the JACK Quartet, A Far Cry, Argus Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, New Morse Code, NOW Ensemble, Sandbox Percussion, icarus Quartet, Boston Conservatory, University of Massachusetts, University of North Texas, University of Kentucky, and the University of Wisconsin. His work has also been performed by noted international performers Mak Grgic, Brian Archinal, Dan Lippel, Colin Davin, Ayano Kataoka and Ian Rosenbaum. A new work for the Argus Quartet in 2021 has been supported by an Individual Artist grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and will be composed during a fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks. It will be premiere at Tribeca New Music Festival in Fall 2021. A new string orchestra commission for A Far Cry will premiere at Dumbarton Oaks in April 2022.
David’s music has been released on New Amsterdam, Innova, National Sawdust Tracks, Coviello Classics, and Skirl. In 2021, Dan Lippel will release Point Cloud for his solo album on New Focus Recordings.
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, David has studied composition with Daria Semegen, Matthew Barnson, Daniel Weymouth, Nathan Davis and Paul Caputo; woodwinds with Andrew Sterman; and improvisation with Ralph Alessi, Don Byron, Peter Epstein, Steve Coleman and Ravi Coltrane through New York’s School for Improvisational Music. He has worked with Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon and David Lang as a composition fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, and with Donnacha Dennehy and Steven Stuckey as a composer in residence at the Mizzou International Composers Festival.
- David Crowell
Performance History
January 14, 2020
The Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ
World Premiere Performance