How are these compositions different from other modern classical music? Burt lives in many musical worlds. He grew up on the traditions of classical music and jazz and became involved in experimental improvised music as a teenager. He blends together the rigor and ornate craftsmanship of classical music with the rhythmically-free, spontaneous, and untuned harmonies of improvised music. His work as an educator affords him opportunities to oversee student works that range through all different styles of contemporary popular music. These influences manifest obliquely in his music, through manipulation of dynamic energy levels and unusual applications of repetition.
While his style is most often centered around densely packed parametric sets of newly invented procedures, the effect of his music ranges from beautiful and flowing to suspenseful. It always engages the mind and guides the listener through the unexplored frontiers of music, both emotionally and intellectually.
Burt's next project could be a commission from you, even for orchestra! Please, contact him if you like what you hear.
While his style is most often centered around densely packed parametric sets of newly invented procedures, the effect of his music ranges from beautiful and flowing to suspenseful. It always engages the mind and guides the listener through the unexplored frontiers of music, both emotionally and intellectually.
Burt's next project could be a commission from you, even for orchestra! Please, contact him if you like what you hear.
-
Mixed SignalsMixed Signals was written for Lisa Weiss. It involves a computer (or phone) tracking piano notes and responding. The pianist plays a solo part written in a flowing, yet rigorously composed style, while the computer answers with randomly reordered notes creating a harmonic cloud. This is the first of a series of works for piano and electronics to be composed in 2018.
-
Burt-Finite_Gestures-Artscape_2018_Burt_Purdy.mp3Excerpt from Finite Gestures, a composition by Samuel Burt. Performed at Artscape 2018 by Samuel Burt, bass clarinet, and Shelly Purdy, percussion.
-
Parametric TransmutationsThis is one of the densest arrangements of information I have ever produced, a mixture of observationally simple and subtle. You can hear my obsession with long process forms. Performed by Erin Freeman conducting a Peabody Orchestra.
-
Dime NovelAn award winning composition for violin and piano, it breathlessly flies across an abstract landscape and ends in a rhyme. Performed here by Aurelie Baziger and John Chernoff.
-
Fountain ResonancesA piece combining the best extended techniques with beautiful layers of shimmering string textures. Composed to be maximally challenging yet easy to assemble. This is an excerpt of the ending of Fountain Resonances. Performed here by C.R. Kasprzyk and string players from the Peabody Conservatory.
-
Dime Novel ScorePart of a page from Dime Novel.
-
Orchestra ScoreA corner of a page from Parametric Transmutations.
-
mixed_signals.pngPage 5 of Mixed Signals, a work for piano and cell phone.
-
LabyrinthsA semi-graphic score for indeterminate instruments. Each performer finds their own way through each page creating cannons and retrograde imitation along the way.