Recombinant Music Composed by George Lewis

courtesy of Naxos of America

Those following this site, particularly during current pandemic times, may have noticed an emergence of attention for the composer George Lewis. I have pianist Sarah Cahill to thank for bringing Lewis within reach of my radar; but, not long after writing about her performance of his four-movement suite for solo piano Endless Shout, I was fortunate enough to encounter Rainbow Family, an album of improvisations performed during the 1984 International Computer Music Conference in Paris. This was “something completely different” from my experiences in listening to Cahill. The Rainbow Family performances took place at IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, which translates into “Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music”); and Lewis’ “instrument” was a computer running his software.

About a month ago New Focus Recordings released an album of three Lewis compositions collected under the title The Recombinant Trilogy. That title probably refers to the work of David Cope, a leading researcher in the relationship between artificial intelligence and algorithmic approaches to creating music. Cope’s activities led to his holding US Patent #7696426, entitled Recombinant Music Composition Algorithm and Method of Using the Same. While the performances at IRCAM were improvised, the three Recombinant Trilogy works do not allow for improvisation in their respective compositions. Instead, each piece is a duet for a single instrumentalist and a performer of synthesized electronic sounds.

The earliest of the pieces, “Emergent,” was composed in 2014. It was written for flutist Claire Chase, who performs on the new album with Levy Lorenzo managing the electronics. This was followed by “Not Alone,” which was completed in 2015. This was written for cellist Seth Parker Woods, who manages the electronic accompaniment for his own cello playing on the new album. The final composition is “Seismologic.” It was composed in 2017, commissioned by and written for bassoonist Dana Jessen. On this album electronic accompaniment was provided by Eli Stine. “Emergent” is the shortest of the pieces, only about twelve minutes long. The other pieces are slightly short of twice as long, and the duration of the entire album is almost one hour.

In many respects Cope was a fellow researcher in many of my own activities, particularly in the last quarter of the twentieth century. We both appreciated the value of software created using the Lisp programming language, and each of us has cited the other in scholarly publications we had written. Cope’s recombinant techniques were realized through a software package he called EMI (Experiments in Musical Intelligence). However, since the essay that Lewis provided for the booklet that accompanies The Recombinant Trilogy never mentions either Cope or EMI, I am not sure that Cope was much of an influence on the three pieces on the album.

More important is what Lewis did write for the booklet, which is probably the best source to guide the attentive listener through these three compositions. However, even with that assistance, following the performances themselves is likely to be more than a bit of a strain. Part of the problem is the framework of the duration. “Emergent” seems to have found the “Goldilocks” duration, long enough for the mind to begin to appreciate the relationship between the soloist and the algorithm-based electronics but not too long to wear down the listener’s patience. In contrast, “Not Alone” feels as if it is going on forever. To some extent that braces the listener for the similar endurance of “Seismologic.” However, that familiarity does not necessarily enhance appreciation, although my personal feeling is that the wide spectrum of sonorities evoked by Jessen is more conducive to attention than those of Woods.

Because my connection with this music is more personal than what readers are likely to encounter in most of my other articles, I cannot give an unbiased assessment of the entire album. I am reminded of a slogan that used to promoted the Sunday edition of The New York Times: “You don’t have to read it all, but it is good to know it’s all there!” I think it is important that Lewis’ efforts have been documented on a readily accessible recording. However, I also think it may be some time before I return to listen to it again!