Improvisation has a long history in classical music. Until recently, it has been dead. To help bring it back to life, I had been searching for the opportunity to compose a Soumdpainting with classical musicians whose improvisation foundation is derived from the likes of Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Stockhausen, Braxton, and Ives. Of course, I was immediately interested when Gil contacted me about this project. We met several times to discuss the approach; the underlying direction of the 3 Soundpaintings would center on Gil as the pivotal force, his improvised choices influencing and eliciting the direction I would take the orchestra, and, in turn, Gil would be Soundpainted and influenced by my responses to his choices—a continuous give and take.

In Soundpainting terminology, any section of rehgearsed and/or notated music is called a palette. I composed 24 palettes from Haydn's notation, representing the signature points of the concerto. Using these palettes and/or extending them with Soundpainting gestures allowed me to get inside the material to expand and elaborate on it.

The combination of what I term as open-form Soundpainting, mixed with palettes and Gil's wonderful solo work, culminated in these 3 Haydn Soundpaintings.

I offer many thanks to the members of the Modern Chamber Orchestra for their hard work in preparing for this recording. We had only three 2-hour rehearsals, and most of the players had no prior experience with Soundpainting or improvisation.

Approximately 95 Soundpainting gestures were used in composing these 3 Haydn Soundpaintings. All compositions were composed live using the Soundpainting language; there were no edits.

— Walter Thompson

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The Modern Chamber Orchestra

Walter Thompson – Soundpainter/Conductor
Gil Selinger – Solo Cello
Etienne Abelin – Violin
Anton Stahly – Violin
Lissa Pasternak –Violin
Helen Yee –Violin
Christine Lee –Violin
Alice Colby –Violin
David Grunberg –Violin
Eddie Malave – Viola
Stephen Salchow – Viola
Dylan Willemsa – Viola
Tara Chambers – Cello
Jessica Cesanna – Cello
Erich Schon-Rene – Cello
Mark Wade – Double Bass
Brian Greene – Oboe
Julie Ferrara – Oboe
Marshall Sealy – French Horn
Jennifer Beakes – French Horn

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Soundpainting Haydn




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