David Smooke

Compositions
L'EDGE
L'EDGE.mp3 - excerpt
L'EDGE.pdf - complete
The MP3 is a 2'18" excerpt from a performance by the Pacifica String Quartet. The PDF is the complete piece. This excerpt begins with the second large section of the piece, where a continuous glissando rises from the lowest register of the cello up to a high violin register while the distorted calls of cardinals and black-capped chickadees resonate throughout the ensemble. After a brief transition, events from the first large section return, with mutes veiling the sound of the instruments. In L'EDGE, the quartet is asked to produce a wide range of sounds from long bel canto melodies to unusual extended techniques. The lowest string of the cello is tuned down a minor third; this scordatura is exploited in two solos marked "harsh, with urgency." Natural harmonics, including the oddly tuned seventh partial, are used throughout, as are passages tuned one-quarter tone flat. At times instruments are asked to play in the highest possible register on the fourth string or notes so high that they are off the fingerboard. This range of sounds adds to the sense of vertigo this piece should convey.
Hazmats Sextet
Hazmats Sextet.mp3 - excerpt
Hazmats Sextet.pdf - complete
The MP3 is a 4 minute excerpt from Hazmats Sextet a 7 minute piece, performed by the California E.A.R. Unit. The PDF is the complete piece. The excerpt begins near the middle of the piece and continues until the final cadence. Hazmats Sextet was written for the California E.A.R. Unit to perform at Arcosanti, the famous Paolo Soleri- designed ecologically-sound planned urban environment in the high Arizona desert. As with most of my music, it explores the relationship between humanity and nature. The bird calls that appear throughout are generally evocative rather than an exact transcription of any specific bird. They are heard in all octaves and in each instrument and their distorted nature gives the sense of being dropped into an eerie landscape. These calls eventually coalesce into an extended melody near the end of the piece. Atmospheric textures and asymmetrical grooves ebb and flow, at times serving as the ground over which the birds roam and at times altering the calls. This piece creates a range of sounds despite using very limited compositional resources, in that sense perhaps reflecting the purpose of Arcosanti.
Requests
Requests.mp3 - complete
Requests.pdf - complete
The MP3 and PDF are both of the entire 3-minute piece, as performed by Amy Dissanayake. This tango was written at the behest of Amy Dissanayake for a forthcoming cd. The staggered rhythm of the original dance is presented here in a 7-beat pattern instead of the usual 8. The dance is imagined through various physical and mental levels, depicting the surrounding scene, the thoughts of the two dancers and the dance itself. The perspective constantly shifts between these levels.
Anna Liffey, Song 6 (final song), In the end
Anna Liffey, Song 6 (final song), In the end.mp3 - complete
Anna Liffey, Song 6 (final song), In the end.pdf - complete
This song was sung by mezzo-soprano Julia Bentley with Amy Dissanayake playing the piano accompaniment, on my 2006 Composer Portrait Recital. The MP3 and PDF are both the complete version of this individual song.

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©2006 by David Smooke
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David Smooke is a member of Society of Composers, Inc. SCI is dedicated to the promotion of composition, performance, understanding and dissemination of new and contemporary music.

This photo is by my student, Noelle Policastro, from a February 1, 2007 Ohio University Symphony Orchestra Pre-Concert Lecture on L'Histoire du soldat	contact: dasmooke at gmail.com For more information visit: www.peabody.jhu.edu/smooke or www.myspace.com/davidsmooke RECENT NEWS I am now in Baltimore as a member of the music theory faculty of the Peabody Conservatory, a division of Johns Hopkins University, on a full-time continuing basis.