Cassandra Miller’s quivering opening notes thanks song Voices and string quartets are eerie. I’ve never heard it before, but it sounds strangely nostalgic. It was only later that I realized that this piece was based on a piece I knew very well: the slow movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet, Opus 132. holy thanksgiving (thanksgiving holy song). I have changed beyond recognition.
Miller described Beethoven’s movements as “quiet, focused and grateful.” thanks song Take these qualities and expand them. The musicians appear as a group, but each plays independently, each mimicking a different pre-recorded track of Miller’s vocal line developed from Beethoven’s quartet while listening through headphones during the performance. increase. It feels like this technique could create chaos, but there is somehow stillness in Miller’s slow-moving work. The performers are shaken, but it’s that hesitation and anxiety that ultimately makes the experience so beautiful.
Born in Canada, Miller attended the University of Victoria to learn to play the harp, but soon fell in love with composition, then went on to study composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in The Hague and a PhD in composition at the University of Huddersfield. She now lives in England and her captivating and introspective music resonates with audiences.
One of her major breakthroughs was her 2015 Duo for Cello and Orchestra, which was named one of the best classical works of the 21st century by The Guardian. Since then, she has been gradually gaining attention, but this year, she has performed Viola Concerto, I can’t love without tremblinghas premiered in England and she is one of the featured composers at the Aldeburgh Festival, where works spanning her career are featured in several concerts.
However, it was not natural for the composer to rejoice at her early success. “It was fun, but it felt weird to have fun,” she says from her home in London. “When things are successful, there is a lot of emphasis on the end result. If you focus too much on the end result rather than the process, you can make yourself really miserable. It was not a kind life for me.”
Her solution was to begin years of collaborations with singer Juliet Fraser and violinist Sylvia Tarozzi and focus on the creative process. When she speaks she brings a large group of people into the room with us. Her tutor Christopher Butterfield and fellow composer Michael Finissy are among the many names that come up as inspirations and mentors, and she speaks of her colleagues with genuine warmth and generosity. . . “You really think people only write songs for their friends, don’t they?” she laughs. “And you can make friends, especially with people who write music.”
Cassandra Miller Takes the Stage for Viola Concerto ‘I Can’t Love Without Trembling’
Fraser is currently playing two songs at Aldeburgh that have emerged from his collaboration with Miller, who makes music in two main ways. The first is the transcription of existing works and recordings, such as: thanks song. When choosing her work to transcribe, Miller focuses on the human element and is drawn to what she describes as her “vocalness.” Her singing voice is particularly compelling, she says. Because, she says, singing “allows you to study the person, the tiny grains of that voice, the voice that makes you feel like you know something about that person.”
Miller’s Transcriptions — and more nice singing, based on a recording by opera singer Maria Callas. It zooms in on the cracks, imperfections, and quirks that make individual voices so distinctive and lovingly turn them into radiance. Vocal vibrato becomes a trembling flute line and guitar playing. pianissimo It responds to the crow’s subtle pitch changes until the original melody is barely discernible.
orchestral works the womanPerformed at Aldeburgh, the song was born from a transcription of a form called Italian Folk Song. whiplash (“Exciting just to hear”).of the woman She seeks to capture “the physicality of the thrill you feel when you hear it” and urges the orchestra to “play with such a vibrant feeling.”
The second method is also used when: thanks songinvolves the performer inaccurately mimicking an audio track while meditating (Mr. Miller calls this “auto-singing”). They’ve heard the track before in rehearsals and previous performances, but the sound is unique in every performance. These compositional techniques combine to give Miller’s work a sense of openness and vulnerability. Auto-singing involves a certain kind of release and acceptance. Classical musicians spend years honing their skills to play notes perfectly, but when you’re deaf in a full-body scanning meditation, it’s hard to get the ‘perfect’ sound. the sounds you make.
Miller conceptualizes transcription and auto-singing as a process of transformation. Both she and the music she responds to change subtly through her compositions.When you return to Beethoven’s original movement that inspired it thanks song, I experience it differently. The string tuning inflections sound sharper, reminding me of the hesitation of the Miller performers and the echoes of their long lines. As composers, the demanding Beethoven and the collaborative Miller had no more different spirits.but thanks song The work successfully bridges the gap between the two by drawing out and revealing all the intimacy of Beethoven’s sacred song and transforming it into a prayer for the 21st century.
“There’s something magical about making everyone look vulnerable on the inside,” Miller says. Perhaps it’s magical because this kind of vulnerability requires a great deal of trust not only between the performer and the composer, but also between the collaborator and the audience. Miller says she wants the audience to “feel welcome,” she insists, but she wants her music to make the audience feel welcome and reassured by the performers. is asking.
This is a dangerous strategy. No other composer may be able to elicit such mutual respect from listeners. But this openness is part of what makes Miller’s music so powerful. And what strikes me most about both the composer and her music is the sincerity. Miller does not write music trying to persuade or impress. She composes a truth for herself, urging her audience to reflect on themselves and stop with her.
Aldeburgh Festival, June 9-25 BritainPiercerts.org
Check out our latest stories first — follow us @ftweekend on Twitter
