Magic
for sinfonietta and child violinists
for sinfonietta ensemble and child violinists
1111|1110|1perc.|pno|child violinists|11111
Duration: c. 15’
Year of composition: 2019
Commissioned by conductor Owen Underhill
Premiere: Cantus Ansambl Zagreb, conducted by Owen Underhill, September 19, 2019, at Lauba Zagreb, Croatia
Premiere with live child violinists: Turning Point Ensemble and live child-violinist ensemble from the Vancouver Academy of Music, conducted by Owen Underhill and Edward Top, November 21, 2021, Orpheum Annex, Vancouver.
Magic is a hybrid composition for sinfonietta and (pre-recorded) child violinists, consisting of different styles cast in the repetitive texture of a dutch-minimalist microcanon. An important element in this work is formed by the prere- corded child violinists blended with the professional sinfonietta. I recorded three of my violin students aged 5-8, who play simple motives that are then further developed in the ‘grown-up’ ensemble. Half a dozen of these pre- recorded audio samples are played back from an amplified laptop operated either by the pianist or the percussionist.
On the one hand the sound of these little violins can be regarded as an extended technique of the ensemble’s or- chestration, through different elements of the beginner-violinists sound: the delicacy of small-sized instruments, the fluctuating intonation, and the archaic simplicity of rhythm - yet played with the greatest effort! On the other hand, the fantastical images conjured up by the word ‘magic’ from the perspective of the children’s fragility and innocence - yes, a childlike adoration of the magical - produces a psychological contrast with the full force of the highly cultivat- ed sound of the sinfonietta.
Edward with the Magic violinists of the Vancouver Academy of Music, Fall 2021
An Interview with Edward Top
Edward Top’s Magic will be performed as part of Vancouver Magic, November 21 at the Orpheum Annex. We spoke to the composer about the piece, his reputation in the Dutch press, and integrating children into his music.
You are a relatively recent arrival to Vancouver. What brought you here, and what inspires you to stay?
Moving to the great Pacific Northwest in Canada was considered an exciting adventure for me, and also Vancouver is my wife’s hometown. We have been in Vancouver for over a decade already, and I still find exciting pockets of music creation. I loved my previous job as Composer-in-Residence with the Vancouver Symphony during my first years here, and continue to be excited about symphonic music as a teacher of composition, orchestration and violin at the Vancouver Academy of Music. I recently discovered that Vancouver has a group of high-level musicians, specializing in Chinese instruments. With my Dutch roots, and having previously lived in East Asia, I am now working with both Western and Chinese musicians to find new ways of expression. This can only happen in Vancouver!
Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed anything in your composing process? How are you faring in these weird times?
The pandemic did not affect my personal composition process because as a composer I always work in isolation. However, the uncertainty of whether my work would ever be performed again had a profound and ominous impact. Performances of live music were on hold, which made my colleagues and I increasingly nervous about an already precarious profession. Ironically, since blood is thicker than water, this insecurity motivated me to write a large orchestral work just because I felt I had to to prevent “compositional-atrophy”!
Magic envisioned by then 7-year old Elliott Top
The Dutch press called you “horror composer Edward Top”. What did you do to earn that designation? Should audiences brace for terror? This moniker was designated 25 years ago, after the performance of my piece “The Overwhelming Blankness of the Ultimate Meaninglessness of Tragedy” for chamber orchestra where a soprano ran screaming down the concert hall, and an actor narrated a macabre text. At first, I was apprehensive of being pigeon-holed but it is just a bit of fun. For the upcoming concert of Magic with the Turning Point Ensemble and an ensemble of child violinists, this piece will be quite angelic! There are intriguing photos on your site with a double-necked Gibson SG. Tell us a little bit about the piece that used that unusual instrument most often associated with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.
Three years ago, during Vancouver Pro Musica’s Sonic Boom Festival, I performed my composition “Three Studies for Decaoctochordon”, an instrument name that I made up. It creates very interesting clouds of sound, with its 18 differently-tuned strings on the double-neck guitar. The twelve-string section is tuned to all 12 pitches of the chromatic scale, and the other neck is a quarter-tone sharp. It is an instrument for the outlandish! Recently I have been re-tuning the double neck for a more Jimmy Page-like approach in my progressive-rock band called Square.
REVIEW
“Magic is the word when it comes to the composition for ensemble and electronics by Dutch Canadian composer Edward Top, which features samples of prerecorded child violinists (his students, ages five to eight). Different sections of the piece are based on a variety of textures, which find their origin is rhythmic repetition, which brings links with minimalism to mind (Bojan Plećaš-Kalebot makes mention of the term • minimalist microcanon • in the program booklet). The fragile intonation of the children's violin-playing might have easily turned the work into something irritating. But, the contrary is true. The work shows an incredible creativity of the composer, who, from a seemingly completely inconspicuous piece of music, has succeeded in shaping extremely interesting musical textures that function as a dialogue in the modern, digital age (…) It is a pity the work was performed in front of only a handful of people (due to the terrible downpour) as I get the impression that not only musicians who follow contemporary classical music of the 21st century would like the work, but also those who follow contemporary trends in popular music, and find their choice in listening to YouTube videos.”
Irena Paulus, Cantus Number 217, November, 2019 (Translated from Croatian)