James Harley
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Composer, author, professor of music

James Harley (born 1959) is a Canadian composer, author, and professor of music born in Vernon, British Columbia. His creative output consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, electroacoustic, and vocal music.

Studies

Harley studied at Western Washington University (B.Mus., magna cum laude, 1977–1982), Royal Academy of Music (1983–1985), Université de Paris (1986–1987), Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music, Warsaw (1987–1988), and McGill University (D.Mus., 1988–1994).

Teaching

He has taught at the Faculty of Music at McGill University (1989–1995), Wilfrid Laurier University (1995–1996), California Institute of the Arts (1997), University of Southern California (1997), and Minnesota State University Moorhead (1999–2004). In 2004, he took up a tenure-track position in music at University of Guelph, where he is associate professor.

Harley is also the author of the book Xenakis: His Life in Music. His areas of expertise and specialization include digital music, composition, contemporary music analysis, and history of electronic/computer music. Music and research by James Harley is represented by Art Music Promotion.[1]

List of works

Orchestra

  • Along the Riverrun (1983) 10 min.
Version I: 1111/1100/timp/66643
Version II: strings (20220 concertante/66644 orchestra)
  • Overture Divertimento (1984) 8 min. 2222/2220/timp/strings
  • Windprints (1989) 15 min. 2222/4221/3 perc/pf/strings
  • Kekula (Memories of a Landscape – III) (1992) 15 min. 2222/4221/strings
  • N(ouvelle)aissance (1994) 16 min. 1202/2000/1 perc/44321
  • Old Rock (1996) 10 min. 2222/4221/timp/strings

Ensemble

  • Sabbath (1981) 20 min. jazz ensemble (5 saxophones, 5 trumpets, 4 trombones, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, drums)
  • The Tail of Pinky Oozgreen and the Mossbrains (1983) 20 min. jazz ensemble (5 saxophones, 5 trumpets, 4 trombones, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, drums)
  • Stillness Dancing (1983, revised 1984) 10 min. 11 players (1111/1000/1 perc/pf/10111)
  • Mobile (1984) 18 min. 10 trombones (8 tenors, 2 bass), 2 percussion
  • Prelude (Under the Thin Rainfall) (1985) 7 min. flute, clarinet, horn, harp, violin, cello
  • Tapisse(reve)rie (1986) 13 min. 11 players (1111/1110/10111)
  • Memories of a Landscape – II (1988) 15 min. 13 strings (44221)
  • Daring the Wilderness (1991) 12 min. percussion ensemble (5 players)
  • Etude pour une Fete (Jazz II) (1991) 6 min. alto saxophone (or clarinet), trumpet, trombone, cello, double bass, piano
  • Neue Bilder (Der Holle Rache) (1991) 10 min. piccolo, oboe, Eb clarinet, trumpet, percussion, viola, cello, double bass
  • Wine of Dragons (1993) 7 min.
Version I: Taiko ensemble – 9 performers
Version II (1997): percussion ensemble (9 players)
  • Kaleidarray (Jazz III) (1994) 15 min. violin/bass violin, clarinet/bass clarinet, trumpet, Thai gongs, vibraphone, marimba, piano
  • Cuimhneachan Urramach (1995) 15 min. solo cello and 14 players (1111/1110/1 perc/pf/11111)
  • Octane-VX (1996) 8 min. flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, double bass
  • Can(y)on (1997) 3 min. clarinet, trumpet, vibraphone, marimba, piano, violin, double bass
  • bien serré (1999) 20 min. jazz ensemble (4 saxophones, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, electric guitar, electric bass, keyboard, drums)
  • KappaMusik (2002) 13 min. jazz ensemble (4 saxophones, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 electric guitars, drums)
  • aXis (2006) 12 min. 13 players (1111/1111/11111)
  • soundskein (2006) 15 min. two string quartets

Chamber music

  • Images (1983) 17 min. flute, vibraphone, violin, viola, cello
  • Encounters – II (1984) 10 min. percussion duo
  • String Quartet (1984) 10 min. 2 violins, viola, cello
  • Jazz (1985) 7 min. saxophone quartet (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone)
  • Here the Bird (1993) 13 min. viola, piano
  • Épanoui (1995) 12 min. flute, cello, piano
  • Tyee (1995) 13 min. bass flute and percussion
  • Consort: Dances of the Borealis (1998) 15 min. two pianos, two percussion
  • Cachées (2000) 11 min. guitar and cello
  • nmaya (Kokopeli II) (2002) 12 min. percussion and piano
  • TreDue Sextet (2010) 10 min. flute, clarinet, marimba/vibraphone, piano, violin, violoncello.

Instrumental

  • Exposures (1984) 7 min. horn
  • Portrait (1984) 8 min. flute
  • Piano (1989) 14 min. piano
  • Variations (1989) 21 min. piano
  • Song for Nobody (1990) 8 min. Bb clarinet (alternative version for Bb bass clarinet with extended low register)
  • Ma'dhanah (1990) 12 min. Accordion
  • flung loose into the stars (1995) 10 min. piano
  • Exh... (1999) 5 min. piccolo
  • Édifices (naturels) (2001) 10 min. piano
  • pLayer8a[2] (2007) 5 min. player piano

Vocal and choral

  • Five Poems by Richard Brautigan (1981) 8 min. mezzo-soprano, flute, cello, percussion, piano
  • Soft Morning (1983) 7 min. (text by James Joyce) soprano solo (alternative version for mezzo-soprano)
  • Singing a silence of stone (1983) 6 min. (text by e.e. cummings) soprano, harp, 2 percussion
  • Two Psalms (1986) 14 min. Lullaby (Psalm 23), Jubilate Domino (Psalm 100) SATB chorus, harp
  • Jubilate Domino (Psalm 100) SATB chorus, harp
  • Reflections on a Prayer of Saint Augustine (1987) 13 min. (text in Latin from St. Augustine's Confessions, and The Song of Songs) SATB chorus (36 parts, 9 groups)
  • one winter after(a flower)noon (1987) 8 min. (text by e.e. cummings). soprano, bass clarinet, cello, piano
  • Cantico delle Creature (1993) 23 min. (text by St. Francis of Assisi) mezzo-soprano, choir (SSAATTBB), chamber orchestra (2222/2220/3 perc/piano, celeste/22222), soundfiles
  • re: Hallelujah (2005) 5.5 min. (text by Leonard Cohen) soprano and chamber orchestra (1111/1111/perc/piano/11111)

Electroacoustic

  • Sonnet Sonore (1985) 14 min. oboe and stereo electroacoustic
  • Voyage (1986) 15 min. 4-channel electroacoustic
  • Per Foramen Acus Transire (1987) 15 min. flute/bass flute and stereo electroacoustic
  • Night-flowering ... not even sand – I (1989) 12 min. bassoon and electroacoustic
  • Night-flowering ... not even sand – II (1990) 9 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • Spangled (1996) 5 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • Jardinages – I (2000) 6 min. electric guitar and tape
  • Jardinages – II (2000) 6 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • On Frogs (2000) 13 min. reciter, interactive electronics (3 players)
  • Anasazi: Kokopeli I (2001) 11 min. amplified piccolo and electronics
  • Xmix (2001) 12 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • Chaotika (2001) 12 min. percussion and interactive electronics
  • jem (2003) 3 min. 4-channel electroacoustic
  • Wild Fruits: Prologue (2004) 16 min. 8-channel electroacoustic (alternate version with slides)
  • Wild Fruits: Installation (2004) open duration keyboard controller, sampler, stereo electroacoustic
  • Mashup: Derome vs Oliveros (2005) 7 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • Wild Fruits 2: like a ragged flock, like pulverized jade (2006) 11 min. amplified alto flute, live electronics, 8-channel electracoustic
  • blueBob (Dylan Remix) (2006) 5 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • Ariel Fragments (2007) 17 min. SSSAAA choir, 8-channel electroacoustic
  • pLayer8b (2008) 5 min. 8-channel electroacoustic
  • re:Nude (2008) 4.5 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • re:Nude:ty (2008) 1 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • Wild Fruits 3: Chestnuts (2008) 13 min. 8-channel electroacoustic
  • re:Reckoner (2009) 4.5 min. stereo electroacoustic
  • Duol (2009) 7 min. violin, guitar, soundfiles
  • Raindown (MegMix) (2009) 4.5 min. stereo electroacoustic

Educational music

  • Dance Set (2009) 8 min. two cellos, Grade 4 level

Music theatre

  • Scenes From a Theatre on Mars (1984) 15 min. (Text: James Harley, adapted from The Last Days of Mankind by Karl Kraus) 2 speaking/acting roles (1 male, 1 female), 2 cl (2nd doubles sax), tp/flugel, vn/vl, vc.

Affiliations

James Harley is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, and a board member of the Canadian League of Composers. He is also a member of the American Composers Forum, the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, and the International Computer Music Association.

Selected performers

Arraymusic, Codes d'Accès, Composers' Orchestra,[3] Continuum, Corey Hamm [4] Marc Couroux, ECM, Hammerhead Consort, Kappa, Kore,[5] Kovalis Duo, Duo Vira, Groundswell, Hammerhead Consort, Lafayette String Quartet, McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble,[6] McGill Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth McNutt, New Music Concerts, Patricia O'Callahan, Oshawa-Durham Symphony, Open Ears Festival, Penderecki String Quartet, Polish Society for New Music, Brigitte Poulin, Prince George Symphony, Ben Reimer, SMCQ,[7] Transmission,[8] Trio Phoenix, Trio Fibonacci, Alain Trudel, University of Guelph Women's Chamber Choir, Vancouver Bach Choir, Ellen Waterman.[9]

Further reading

  • Steenhuisen, Paul. 2009. "Interview with James Harley." In Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. ISBN 978-0-88864-474-9
  • Couroux, Marc. Daring the Wilderness. The Music of James Harley.
  • Couroux, Marc. Daring the Wilderness: The Music of James Harley. Musicworks 69 (1997), 42–50.
  • Couroux, Marc: James Harley. Circuit, Vol. 8/1 (Spring 1999).
  • Homma, Martina: James Harley. In Komponisten der Gegenwart, Gesamtverzeichnis. Munich: Edition text-kritik.
  • Various writings on Xenakis by James Harley.
  • Harley, James. "The Hills Are Alive…: Wild Fruits Creative Soundscapes Project." eContact! 10.3 – Symposium Électroacoustique de Toronto 2007 Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium (May 2008). Montréal: CEC.
  • Harley, James. Does the Music Make the Technology Better: The Case of The Residents. In Music, Arts and Technologies: Toward a Critical Approach. Paris: l'Harmattan, 2004.
  • Harley, James. The Continuous Now: Peter Hatch's Musical Vision and Community Presence. Musicworks[10] 86, 2003.
  • Harley, James. Considerations of Lutoslawski's Conception of Symphonic Form. Lutoslawski Studies, ed. Z. Skowron, Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • Harley, James. The New Nihilism: L'objet sonore and the music of Richard Barrett. Musicworks 72, 1998.
  • Harley, James. Generative Processes in Algorithmic Composition: Music and Chaos. Leonardo 28/3, 1995.

References

  1. ↑ Art Music Promotion, James Harley Archived 5 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Veronika Krausas | The Player Piano Project Archived 7 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine. CD Baby (1 March 1971). Retrieved on 2010-12-01.
  3. ↑ CCMW Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Ccmw.ca. Retrieved on 2010-12-01.
  4. ↑ Dr. Corey Hamm Archived 20 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Music.ubc.ca. Retrieved on 2010-12-01.
  5. ↑ Ensemble Kore Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Ensemblekore.ca. Retrieved on 2010-12-01.
  6. ↑ McGill Music Composition Area Archived 15 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Music.mcgill.ca. Retrieved on 2010-12-01.
  7. ↑ About the partners — Montreal/New Music — SMCQ Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Festivalmnm.ca. Retrieved on 2010-12-01.
  8. ↑ "Transmission: Xtc, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 30 September 2010". Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2010..
  9. ↑ Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium 2008 – Paper and Concert Schedule. Cec.sonus.ca. Retrieved on 2010-12-01.
  10. ↑ Musicworks – Postcard Collection. Musicworks.ca. Retrieved on 2010-12-01.
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