Tripp

About the album

Tripp sets one work for large ensemble against six for single instruments, several of them with live electronics. The quintet that gives the album its name was built on a series of numbers used as a fractal — a structure in which the micro and macro levels share the same proportions. Searching for a title, Elkana typed the number series into a search engine and found the zip code of a small town in South Dakota called Tripp.

Around it: Reflections, in which a computer records the violin continuously and plays it back through four speakers until live and recorded become hard to tell apart; Eight Flowers, a bouquet of eight miniatures written for György Kurtág's eightieth birthday, which the pianist may arrange in any order; The Four Enemies after Castaneda's Don Juan — fear, clarity, power and old age; and Whither Do You Go Home, six movements for cello and electronics on Péter Nádas's poem about the composer's father, with the poet's own voice reciting each verse in Hungarian.

The album closes with two solos: Shir, three and a half minutes of extended flute technique, and Shivers for celesta — an instrument usually asked to sound heavenly, here full of excitement and danger.

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Track list

1. 1.
   Tripp (2016)
   quintet for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano
   18:43
   EnsembleMeitar Ensemble — Hagar Shahal, flute · Gilad Harel, clarinet · Yael Barolsky, violin · Yoni Gotlibovich, cello · Amit Dolberg, piano ConductorKonstantia Gourzi

   • I 2:17
   • II 5:02
   • III 1:16
   • IV 6:36
   • V 3:32
2. 2.
   Reflections (2014)
   for violin and electronics
   8:57
   ViolinYael Barolsky
3. 3.
   Eight Flowers — A Bouquet for Kurtág (2006)
   for piano
   5:38
   PianoAmit Dolberg

   • Tulip 0:47
   • Clown 0:14
   • Saigon Moon 0:47
   • Orchid 0:27
   • Rose 1:12
   • Fuchsia 0:24
   • Lotus 0:50
   • Sunflower 0:57
4. 4.
   The Four Enemies (2017)
   for clarinet
   14:48
   ClarinetGilad Harel

   • Fear 1:37
   • Clarity 5:04
   • Power 2:03
   • Old Age 6:04
5. 5.
   Whither Do You Go Home (2009)
   for cello and electronics
   14:51
   CelloDan Weinstein VoicesPéter Nádas, reciting in Hungarian · Topi Lehtipuu, tenor
6. 6.
   Shir (1991)
   for flute
   3:28
   FluteRoy Amotz
7. 7.
   Shivers (2008)
   for celesta
   9:49
   CelestaAmit Dolberg

Physical CD

About the composer

Amos Elkana (b. 1967) is a composer, guitarist and electronic musician whose work spans contemporary concert music, progressive rock, jazz and improvisation. He studied jazz guitar at Berklee College of Music and composition at the New England Conservatory, and holds an MFA in electronic music and sound from Bard College, where he studied with Pauline Oliveros and George Lewis.

His music has been performed internationally by leading soloists, ensembles and orchestras, and presented at Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. He is the recipient of Israel's Prime Minister's Prize for Composers, the Rosenblum Prize for Outstanding Artists and Creators, and the ACUM Golden Feather Award.

Full biography →

Press and interviews

For review copies, interview requests, high-resolution artwork or press materials, please write to amoselkana@gmail.com.

Reception

springy and lyrical … a kaleidoscope of beautiful melodies and fascinating tones Haaretz