TWIN SOULS

TEXT-BASED ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC BY BARRY TRUAX

1. WINGS OF FIRE (1996)
for female cellist and tape (SOCAN 14:00)

Frances Marie Uitti, cello

2. ANDROGYNE, MON AMOUR (1997)
a music theatre work for male double bassist and tape (SOCAN 16:02)

Robert Black, double bass

Video version
Sound Example available

3. PATTERNS (1996)
for female speaker and tape (SOCAN 6:11)

Elizabeth Carefoot, speaker

4. SHE, A SOLO (1973)
for mezzo-soprano and tape (SOCAN 11:50)

Phyllis Mailing, mezzo-soprano

5. IN MEMORIAM A.H.H. (1999)
for tenor and tape (SOCAN 4:13)

Marcel van Neer, tenor
Sound Example available

6. HYMN TO THE MOON (1997)
for alto and tape (SOCAN 3:01)

Sue McGowan, alto

7. - 8. TWIN SOULS (1997)
for chamber choir and tape (SOCAN 14:02)

Vancouver Chamber Choir, Jon Washburn, conductor

7. Thou and I (7:18)

8. We are the stars which sing (6:44)

Total recording time: 70 min.

 

Twin Souls is a collection of electroacoustic compositions that incorporate texts which deal with various gender issues. Some, but not all, refer to same sex relationships; others leave the identity of "the other" to the listener's interpretation. In all cases I have gravitated toward lyric poetry that expresses the human desire for this other being, whether a "mirror image", an idealized partner, or a complementary "opposite". In the first two works (Wings of Fire and Androgyne, Mon Amour), the instrument itself is personified as the lover to whom the poetry is addressed. Patterns and She, a Solo represent female characters experiencing crises in their lives and relationships. In the excerpts (In Memoriam A.H.H. and Hymn to the Moon) and arrangements (Twin Souls) from my opera Powers of Two, these relationships are dramatized on stage. In each piece, the disembodied electroacoustic element takes on the role of creating in your mind your own version of the "twin soul".

A video version of Androgyne, Mon Amour is also available.

Cambridge Street Records gratefully acknowledges the support of Simon Fraser University's Publications Fund in assisting with the printing of the CD booklet.

There is a compelling logic in the choices of Mr. Truax's music offered in Twin Souls, also from 2001. The unifying factor is best illustrated by two things: texts that deal with different approaches to personal relationships, and the writing for soloists accompanied by tape. ... The works that stand out are Wings of Fire, with cellist Frances Marie Uitti, and She, a Solo, the oldest work in this compilation with mezzo-soprano Phyllis Mailing. - alcides lanza, Computer Music Journal 27(2), 2003, p. 118.

With Song of Songs, Barry Truax ... opened his palette up to a world of lushness and sensuousness - a welcomed change for those growing tired of the clinical inwardness of contemporary music ... Twin Souls, which is a CD devoted to works with love poetry and texts on sexual identity, leads off with a gentle touch with Wings of Fire with cellist Frances Marie Uitti softly guiding the lyricism of the piece and responding to the precise measured words of BC poet Joy Kirstin read by Ellie Epp. Another highlight is Androgyne, Mon Amour for double bassist Robert Black. This piece is a setting of six poems by Tennessee Williams read by Douglas Huffman. The poems dictate the music. Even when the words are placed in the background, their rhythms and vocal nuances invite the instrument and tape part to fuse sympathetically into one body and voice. Eerie and sparse, the final synthesis embodies the terrible loneliness endured by Tennessee Williams in his later years. - Darren Copeland, The Whole Note

---