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selected compositions:
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acoustic
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orchestral
Mouths (2010)
for orchestra
Score: Mouths
Midi recording: Listen
Performances:
"Jean Coulthard Readings" March 21, 2011. The Orpheum. Vancouver, Canada.
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Agoraphobia (2010)
for orchestra
Score: Agoraphobia
Midi recording: Listen
Performances:
"Victoria Symphony Readings" April 24, 2010. The Orpheum. Vancouver, Canada.
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Work/Werk (2009)
miniature for orchestra
Score: Work/Werk
Midi recording: Listen
Performances:
"Jean Coulthard Readings" March 22, 2010. The Orpheum. Vancouver, Canada.
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The Earth, Split Open (2009)
for String Orchestra
Score
Midi recording: Listen
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chamber
Dialogo Sopra il Flusso e Reflusso del Mare (2011)
Dialogue on the ebb and flow of the sea
for Accordion and Guitar
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Aquifer (2011)
miniature for Piano Duo
Score
Performances:
"Piano Pinnacle in Concert" August 27, 2011. Roy Barnett Recital Hall. Vancouver, Canada.
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Precious Metals (2011)
for Percussion and Piano
Score
Performances:
"Precious Metals" July 8, 2011. Simon Fraser University. Vancouver, Canada.
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Fashion at 30th, New York City, 1 June 2010 11:41AM (2011)
for eight musicians
flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, horn, percussion
Score
Performances:
"The Sabine Equation" June 7, 2011. Vancouver Art Gallery. Vancouver, Canada.
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Splintering (2010)
for String Trio
Score
Performances:
"SFU Student Composers in Concert" December 2, 2010. SFU Woodward's. Vancouver, Canada.
"cross/sections" December 10, 2010. SFU Woodward's. Vancouver, Canada.
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Carapace (2009)
for Clarinet in Bb, Violin, Cello & Piano
Score
Midi recording: Listen
Performances:
"Pulse Festival" July 30, 2009. Langley Community Music School. Vancouver, Canada.
"cross/sections" December 10, 2010. SFU Woodward's. Vancouver, Canada.
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Waiting for the Giant Squid -or-
everything having been put into perspective
on the event of experiencing one's first car crash (2009)
for Clarinet in Bb, Violin, Cello & Piano
Performances:
"Student Composers" April 2, 2009. Simon Fraser University Theatre. British Columbia, Canada.
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Three Deaths (2008)
Murder, Disease, and Suicide
for Percussion Trio
Performances:
"Student Composers" November 28, 2008. Simon Fraser University Theatre. British Columbia, Canada.
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solo
Argh Canada (2011)
for speaking pianist
Score
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vocal
What Remains (2011)
for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano
words by Shannon Rayne
Score
Performances:
"Playing With Fire: Art Song Lab Premieres" June 19, 2011. Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, Vancouver, Canada.
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Burial (2011)
for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet and Percussion
words by Brian Sampson
Score
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Tune In (2010)
for four singers and four radios
Score
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Sea Level (2010)
for singers and tape
Score
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ACT! (2009)
for Baritone and Piano
A setting of the text of the USA Patriot Act of 2001.
Score
Performances:
"SFU Student Composers" December 3, 2009. Simon Fraser University. Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
"cross/sections" December 10, 2010. SFU Woodward's. Vancouver, Canada.
"Sonic Boom" March 24 2011. The Western Front. Vancouver, Canada.
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electroacoustic
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'tape' pieces
Rails (2010)
quadrophonic
Rails is an acousmatic-soundscape piece derived from train sounds. It moves between a nostalgic meditation on the many train sounds which make up our immediate soundscape and aestheticized musings on the inherent musical qualities that make up these sounds. As the listener is guided between these points, transformations of image occur - where one sound-image suddenly or gradually becomes another, different image. Often the most striking changes occur in the places where the sounds move from abstracted and gestural manipulations and remerge into their more familiar environments; there is a sense of waking from a dream, or being suddenly roused while lost in thought.
Listen: Rails(Stereo Reduction) 7:55
Performances:
"Sonic Putty" January 8, 2010. Bentley Chamber Music Sudio, The Banff Centre. Alberta, Canada.
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Scavengers (2010)
stereo
Scavengers is derived predominantly from field recordings made by myself on Gabriola island, off the coast of British Columbia. During the pensive hours spent alone on the beach or in the forest with my microphones, I became fascinated with the behaviours of Seagulls and Crows; two of the most common and resilient birds around. These creatures displayed remarkable ingenuity and curiosity; in some ways they captured the spirit of the island. I hope that I have captured some of their cunning, violence, whimsy and charm in this piece.
Listen: Scavengers 1:00
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Arbeits/Kraft (Labour/Force) (2009)
stereo
The title literally translates to 'Labour Force', semantically split apart with a slash,
fragmenting the Marxist phrase, which conceives of labour as a commodity. In more
colloquial terms, the labour force refers to the body of workers. As the phrase is
deconstructed, 'force' takes on a new meaning in English, while in the original
German, 'arbeits' becomes alienated from 'kraft'. This piece explores different
metallic sound objects, but with special concern for not only their
sonic properties, but also for their social context and particular class associations.
They are themselves fragmented and juxtaposed into metaphoric and imaginative
syntaxes, illustrating the workers' struggle and alienation in production. As
technology accelerates into the mechanical, the historical progression of labour
evolves through further fragmentation.
Listen: Arbeits/Kraft (Labour/Force) 9:04
Performances:
"Sonic Putty" January 8, 2010. Bentley Chamber Music Sudio, The Banff Centre. Alberta, Canada.
"Surrounding Sound" April 23 2010. Simon Fraser University Theatre. British Columbia, Canada.
"Sonic Boom" April 8 2010. The Western Front. British Columbia, Canada.
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Evoking Images of God (2008)
stereo
Evoking Images of God has its genesis in two sound-objects: A portable wind-up radio and a toy Gamelan instrument. Despite their disparate sonic qualities, a conceptual thread of the metaphysical associations they hold joins them together. In Indonesian culture, the Gamelan is considered a spiritual force and a means of communication with the gods. The disembodied, 'schizophonic' aspect of radio, too, can be seen as a form of abstract, almost metaphysical communication. These two examples, one ancient and one of modern technology, represent the timeless human desire for abstraction and search for meaning. But they are fleeting images; what remains is humanity and its artifice.
Listen: Evoking Images Of God 5:20
Performances:
"Surrounding Sound" December 5, 2008. Simon Fraser University Theatre. British Columbia, Canada.
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Cuts (2008)
stereo
'Cuts' here acts as a double-entendre; as the piece jointly explores the formal qualities of montage editing and specifically the funding cuts made by the Conservative government in Canada in 2008. Montage is used as a method of reconstructing semantic meaning through the juxtaposition of text-fragments. For my related scholarly work on montage as a compositional language in electroacoustic music, click here. Culled from various media sources are the voices of Stephen Harper, Jack Layton, Stˇphane Dion, Gilles Duceppe, Elizabeth May, Atom Egoyan, Colm Fiore, Wendy Crewson and Jian Ghomeshi.
Listen: Cuts 7:40
Publications:
"SFU student composers: recent electroacoustic works (2008/2009)". inter/tidal.ii. Ed. Jennifer Chaput and Natalie Wing. 2009.
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Casino (2007)
octophonic
A Soundscape work which explores the hyper-reality of the casino experience and relates it to personal anxiety and agoraphobia. Created from sounds of casino ambience and sounds of bodily discomfort.
Listen: Casino (Stereo Reduction) 8:04
Performances:
"Surrounding Soundscapes" March 28, 2008. Simon Fraser University Theatre. British Columbia, Canada.
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Impressions on a Forgotten Landscape (2007)
stereo
An Acousmatic work which implores the listener to imprint his or her own vision of landscape onto the evolving sound-shapes. Created from sounds of human voice.
Listen: Impressions on a Forgotten Landscape 7:56
Performances:
"8th Annual West Coast Student Composers Symposium" January 25, 2008. Philip T. Young Recital Hall, University of Victoria. British Columbia, Canada.
"Surrounding Sound" November 9, 2007. Simon Fraser University Theatre. British Columbia, Canada.
"Concordia Quodlibet 2007" November 8, 2007. Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, Concordia University. Quebec, Canada
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live pieces
Waterlogue (2009)
For Laptop and Midi Keyboard
Performances:
"Surrounding Sound" April 4, 2009. Simon Fraser University Theatre. British Columbia, Canada.
"Water's Edge Festival" March 8, 2009. Evergreen Cultural Centre. British Columbia, Canada.
Reviews:
"James O'Callaghan's Waterlogue, the wateriest piece of the evening, was performed live at a keyboard, different clips for different keys. It looked too, after playing some similar bits, like the crashing waves clusters, that he changed the clips activated by different keys, undercutting our expectations in a very satisfyingly theatrical way."-Assymetry Music
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works for electronic instruments
Tune In (2010)
for four singers and four radios
Score
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Drone Network (2007)
For 15 Boomboxes
A partially indeterminate composition arranged with 15 CDs for performers on boomboxes. Performers are given instructions to play, pause, increase or attenuate volume ad libitum and the piece is complete when all CDs have finished. A reflection on electroacoustic communication. Created from sounds of human voice.
Listen: Drone Network (Studio Demonstration) 2:54
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mixed
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works for instruments and electronics
Sea Level (2010)
for singers and tape
Score
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A Brief Meditation on the Experience of Being Mortal (2007)
For Piano and Tape
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Copyright 2011 James O'Callaghan
Last Updated on 12/08/11
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