Phillip the Wanderer (2013) by Cassandra Miller (CA)

November 3, 2019 As part of Continuum's 35Alive! concert co-presented with the Music Gallery. Wesley Shen - piano Video by Sofia Bohdanowicz Audio by Paul Hodge Cassandra Miller (CA) Dr. Cassandra Miller (1976) is a Canadian composer living in London, UK, and is Associate Head of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her notated compositions (About Bach, Duet for Cello and Orchestra, Philip the Wanderer, etc.) explore transcription as a creative process, through which the expressive vocal qualities of pre-existing music are both magnified and transfigured. Her non-notated compositions (So Close, Tracery) take the form of extended collaborations with solo musicians. Using an approach that combines automatic singing and mimicry, Miller creates vulnerable and hospitable spaces for deep listening. Phillip the Wanderer (2013) Commissioned by Philip Thomas with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts Although a transcription, Philip the Wanderer may more accurately be thought of as a translation, or adaptation. Using the rhythmic pushing-and-pulling found in the recording of Mandowa II, played by Mozambican musician Zhukake Masingi, this piece was my first exploration of transcribing with fetishistic loyalty the movements of another human being. Using computer-led transcription processes and guided by a practical grounding in the traditional music of South Eastern Africa, the result is a piece which obsesses over the rhythm of the source material, with its danceable irregularity. ©Continuum Contemporary Music (Toronto) 2020