Morton Subotnick, "Axolotl"

Notes from Nonesuch Records N-78012:

At the time of writing this text I am completing the second of the two works in Part I of a series of works entitled: The Double Life of Amphibians. This second work is for 10 instruments and "real time" computer generated sound and is entitled Ascent Into Air

The entire series will be in three parts: Part I: Amphibians, Part II: Beasts, Part III: Angels

The second part, Beasts, will be a theatre work (opera?) involving singers, musicians, electronics and an extensive choreographed lighting score. Angels, the third part, will consist of two works, the first of which I am about to start and is for the Juilliard String Quartet.

Axolotl (1980) is the first of the two works in Part I of The Double Life of Amphibians. It is scored for cello and an electronic ghost score and was commissioned by Joel Krosnick who premiered it at the Library of Congress on Feb. 13,1981. An Axolotl is a Mexican salamander. It is a transparent and delicate creature with two filigree wing-like appendages, extending from either side of the body, which appear to float above it. These are its lungs for the future ascent onto land... but the axolotl never goes through the final stage of its potential development... it never reaches air... it remains forever in water.

About the "ghost" score: The ghost score consists of two objects:a tape and a small package of electronics. The electronics consist of basic devices:

1. to locate the sound from left to right
2. to alter the frequency of the sound of the instrument up and/or down 100 cycles
3. to control the shape of the amplification

The tape contains high frequency audio signals which are not amplified and therefore not heard by the audience but, instead, are sent directly to the electonics and act as controls for the three modifying devices. The electronics have no sound of their own; they can only act upon the sound of the instrument as it plays, hence, a "ghost" score. --Morton Subotnick

Morton Subotnick is a pioneer in the field of electronic music as well as an innovator in works involving instruments and other media. Born in Los Angeles in 1933, Subotnick, now on the faculty of California Institute of the Arts, includes among his teachers Leon Kirchner and Darius Milhaud. During his years in San Francisco he co-founded the San Francisco Tape Music Center (now at Mills College) and was Music Director of Ann Halprin's Dance Company and the San Francisco Actors' Workshop. He served as Music Director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theatre during its first season and was director of electronic music at the original Electric Circus on St. Mark's Place in New York City. Subotnick's faculty appointments include Mills College and New York University and he has been visiting professor in composition at University of Maryland, University of Pittsburgh and Yale University.

Perhaps best known for his electronic works, he was the first composer to be commissioned to write an electronic composition expressly for the phonograph medium, SILVER APPLES OF THE MOON (Nonesuch H-71174, 1967) which has subsequently been choreographed by the Netherlands Ballet, Ballet Rambert of London and the Glen Tetley Dance Company. His other recordings include: THE WILD BULL (Nonesuch H-71208, 1968), SIDEWINDER (CBS, 1971) 4 BUTTERFLIES (CBS, 1974), UNTIL SPRING (CBS, 1976) and LIQUID STRATA (Town Hall Records, 1979, album title: "For Ralph Grierson") and A SKY OF CLOUDLESS SULPHUR/AFTER THE BUTTERFLY (Nonesuch N-78001,1980).

Joel Krosnick, Cello

A student of William d'Amato, Luigi Silva, Jens Nygaard and Klaus Adam, JOEL KROSNICK has served on the faculties of the universities of Iowa and Massachusetts and the California Arts Institute. He is a faculty member of The Juilliard School and combines a solo career with extensive tours as cellist of the Juilliard Quarter. Both as solo recitalist and as quartet member, he commands a repertoire that encompasses music from the classical as well as the contemporary genres. His contribution to the enrichment of cello literature in (he area of contemporary music has focused on such major American composers as Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, Met Powell, Roger Sessions, Charles Wuorinen, and Morton Subotnick.

-- from Avant Garde Project