Cadences is the name of my newest addition to the Tower Music canon. It starts with a slow introduction which I am choosing to release as a separate short Prelude. The main body of the work then turns into a playful rhythmic romp; playful to listen to, but complicated to perform. Such is Art. The finished product is close to where… Read more →
Author: Joseph Bertolozzi
BERTOLOZZI ACCOMPANIES BEACON’S FIREWORKS (AGAIN)
Joseph Bertolozzi‘s music accompanies the City of Beacon, NY’s 4th of July Fireworks again this year at sundown this Friday nite at Memorial Field. Here’s a view from last year’s show. Come enjoy the refreshments and pre-fireworks music starting at 4pm by The Costellos, Russ St. George & Friends, The Judith Tulloch Band, Tony E, Solar Sound Band, Ed Mickz,… Read more →
“Bon jour Monsieur Bertolozzi..”
Those were the words spoken to me by a smiling boy bagging my groceries on my last day in Paris, a year ago today….“bon jour Monsieur Bertolozzi.” From the lead story on p. 1 of the NY Times digital edition (and lead story on that day’s Arts section in the physical paper) to the Reuters news agency to The Himalayan Times… Read more →
THE PRACTICALITY OF 10K SAMPLES
People have asked me, can you really use thousands of notes? There are only 88 keys on a piano for instance…how many do you need to write a song? Fair question. I chose (at minimum) six samples of each surface, two hard, two medium and two soft (so if done on a piano, right there you’d have 88 x 6!).… Read more →
HARVESTING THE EIFFEL TOWER – ONE YEAR LATER
It’s hard to believe an entire year has gone by since my crew and I set foot on the Eiffel Tower on May 27, 2013 to harvest its sounds for a musical opus. Today’s honors go to them (l.-r.): Franc Palaia, Kyle Griffin, Paul Kozel, Joe Popp, Joseph Bertolozzi, Robert Bellach, Jeff Gertin and Joseph Redwood-Martinez. The team hailed from… Read more →
FOURTH MOVEMENT OF TOWER MUSIC COMPLETE
The Tower Music opus grows steadily as I have I just finished the next movement. Very different from the previous three, it is spread out on a dark canvas, a deeply introspective exploration of the sounds of the Eiffel Tower; music of the nature of its sounds alone, unshackled by any rhythmic or melodic imperative, though there is a logic… Read more →
THIRD PIECE IN TOWER MUSIC COMPLETE
Just finished another bit of #TowerMusic. Making steady progress as this puts me roughly 1/4 of the way thru the album. Read more →
TWO MOVEMENTS OF TOWER MUSIC COMPLETED
I have finished two movements of Tower Music. One is an aggressive, overture-type piece, not unlike Meltdown from Bridge Music, but at the moment I’m not sure of its placement in the final sequence of numbers. The second is part of a projected mini-suite entitled “The Harp That Pierced the Sky,” limited to the Eiffel Tower‘s harp-like samples. This is… Read more →
BRIDGE MUSIC BEGINS 5TH SEASON
The Bridge Music installation begins its fifth season April 1 as a public sound-art installation. Its sister project in Paris, Tower Music on the Eiffel Tower, is in the composition stage and will be ready by the end of 2014. Launched during the 400th anniversary celebrations in 2009 of Henry Hudson’s voyage up the Hudson River, Bridge Music was created… Read more →
LET THE COMPOSING BEGIN
I have completed building my “Virtual Eiffel Tower Instrument,” a repository of the sounds I will use to compose Musique de la Tour. Now the creative part begins, THE PART I CAME TO DO. To paraphrase William Shawn, legendary editor of The New Yorker: “…Be patient – trust your material. Every piece has its own natural, sometimes preposterously long term…”… Read more →