I am Nature

(inspired by works of Jackson Pollock)


to Keith Evans




Composed by

Marc Yeats


I am Nature: introduction



Lee Krasner revealed in her 1964 interview for the Smithsonian Institution: 'When I brought Hofmann up to meet Pollock and see his work…he asked Jackson…do you work from nature? There were no still lifes…or models around and Jackson's answer was, "I am nature."'

The album I am Nature comprises nine pieces, each able to stand alone yet sharing a mutual theme in concept and form; manifestly an unequivocal departure in Marc Yeats' compositional approach: Arranged singularly for CD performance.

I am Nature, reflects nine specific paintings by Jackson Pollock (1912-56) by extolling musical dualism. Though mutually atonal, one expresses tinctured and augmented harmonic shades; the other, in contradistinction, possesses monolithic and atavistic acuity of register, colour and form: Thematic juxtapositions elicit fusions again, to those familiar with the Yeats works, embodying a salient approach to structure, hue, timbre and dialectic. Consequently, he engages two notional musical modes that actuate transformations consonant with abstract painting techniques; a synthesis and metamorphosis both subtle and vibrant.

The genesis of I am Nature stems from two major influences on the composer. Yeats' own initial musical experiences delineate nostalgia for the English Pastoral School (exemplified by Bax, Vaughan Williams and Moeran) casting an acute emotional impression and a diametric opposite; matched by his passion for and fascination with avant-garde expressionism and experimentalism awakened from the 1960s and '70s.

Being also an acclaimed landscape painter Marc Yeats' work with colour, form and texture inform his ideas on musical construction and content. As his illustrative aptitude intensified he observed:

'I moved decisively from representational to abstract art. With a rising technical repertoire, so too grew my conviction of creating an individual compositional language by exploring these modes in a musical context. In I am Nature, both threads are transformed through my "painterly ear" to assimilate and evoke a very personal, natural and unselfconscious outpouring of sound.

On first hearing, the music may seem arbitrary, improvisational or even chaotic. This is not the case. Consciously the music doesn't operate within the logic of number series, motific development, Fibonacci-based proportions, functional harmony, magic squares, tone rows or any of the customary gamete of compositional techniques. Another rationale is operative; a personal logic rooted in "self experience" of the techniques and processes of abstract painting.'

The compositional logic for I am Nature stems 'intrinsically from the music itself rather than impacted externality.' Crucially Yeats reveals, 'The surface of the music - what is heard - reflects the many routes, systematic and intuitive, that beckon its creation. This surface is the music; its own context, self fulfilling and delighting in the visceral spirit and quality of sound for sounds sake in the same way an artist can relish a particular combination of colours or surfaces as complete in themselves. For me, relationships between musical objects arise from a continual process of assimilation whereby the inherent energies and context of sounds designate and hone the destiny and role that each inhabits and exhibits. Namely, the sum of the parts fashion the resultant work. This is the nature of my music – its sound – and the guiding principle for its realisation.'

All the movements of I am Nature on this CD utilise the Vienna Symphonic Library digital sound samples as elemental instrumental material allied with segments from other sound bank
libraries (keyboard instruments). Some further combined with electro-acoustics supplemented by distortions and transformations of recordings originating with Marc Yeats.

Conspicuously, this composition is not designed for acoustic performance – it has no written score - the works are for listening on various music players: The ensemble being cybernetically constructed via an assimilative format, as previously mentioned, and inherently complimentary to Yeats' methods of painting and acoustic composition.

Marc Yeats considers, 'Most listeners now experience music on CD, mp3 download; it is to this evolving medium and audience I am Nature is primarily configured and aimed. I perceive music designed explicitly for CD listening alone as a new genre that straddles the worlds of live concert and theatre performance and electro-acoustic/digital studio productions. In this latest work I've endeavoured to create the sensation of 'live' music performance by combining the highest quality digital sound samples worldwide with a fluid array of sound treatments and creative techniques.'

Yeats has long been captivated by the paintings of the American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock, as he attests, 'His creations exude vibrancy, spontaneity and texture with high elements of chance and wild mark-making; fundamental to his distinctive modus operandi. Such dynamics have drawn me to him, alternately rousing and informing my musical responses. I am Nature attempts a translation and transition from the visual to the aural; these nine inimitable Pollock paintings are correspondingly subject and stimuli for a neo-paean.'

From the outset Marc Yeats pondered the 'improbability, if not impossibility, of creating a direct translation of the visual into sound other than as a subjective reaction to various levels and elements of given art works. I focused on two key aspects of Pollock's output; actual processes employed and surfaces produced, appraising my responses to their overall mood and dynamic.'

Wanting to incorporate facets of chance occurrence into his scores, echoing Pollock's 'action' regimen, Yeats evolved his introductory musical material from ghost templates from his own repertoire. He randomised the resultant pitches to generate a new cluster to realise the nine pieces. This process delivered a self-styled found object scenario 'involving the examination of emergent variables from chance progressions. I chose fragments, lines, and in some cases complete passages, that were pleasing. Mindful to give each piece a distinctive character, akin to the pictures themselves, I employed different tempi, durations of sections and most importantly, different instrumental and electro-acoustic combines. With the material derived randomly, each section of I am Nature projects autonomous qualities, notwithstanding additional levels of activity and consciousness, where elements variously connect some pieces to others.'

Having kindled these prismatic components Marc Yeats erected tonal configurations to reflect the spirit of Pollock 'while being structurally satisfying and cogent to my ear; an application denoting a qualitative subjectivity: Essentially no overt "logical" compositional protocols on the surface of the music that might detract from the spontaneous and expressionist sensation I sought. To this end was engendered an array of complex sound structures that would not reveal all they contained aurally on the first few listenings – I was impelled to formulate a sound-surface that embraced the complexity of many Pollock dazzling paintings which celebrate texture, colour and energy.

Later my individual musical responses to Pollock's métier were not exclusively frenetic and arbitrary. Some pieces are spacious in nature, reflective and personal; a few evince an inner harmonic stability. An indispensable stance to derive the utmost diversity between the nine works. To this end I introduced several sections as show cases for particular instruments or instrumental combinations which give the music added dimensions of dialogue and, occasionally, argument.

As work progressed the pieces flowed as a single body. This was not my original intention, but the weight and length of certain sections and feel of the music itself suggested to me a journey from beginning to end. The pieces were not composed in the order that they are now presented but organised upon their completion. To emphasis this exploratory feature I created two pieces that focus on solo strings; a pivot on either side of a central movement, Stenographic Figure, and delivering a sense of fulcrum.

Once all nine pieces were assembled and familiar to me, I returned to Pollock's work to find suitable titles for the music. It was important for me at the conceptual and compositional stages not to be hampered in any way by working to a specific designation – the music being driven by random processes and evolving into the skeletal framework for the finished pieces; a title would but inhibit the advance of these providential rudiments. Otherwise I risked an obligation on some level, conscious or otherwise, to strive towards such an outcome.

Ultimately I feel the "random approach" is in keeping with Pollock's work ethic and my own creative aesthetic. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of creating this music was allocating titles that would resonate with the finished music. Hopefully, I've achieved that.'

I am Nature: the works


Full Fathom Five 2007 Duration: 14.25

For E flat clarinet, triple horn, violin, viola, cello, virginal, percussion and electronics.

The longest piece in I am Nature, Full Fathom Five explores the relationships between all the instruments in a predominantly melodic fashion, often creating many lines of activity that play out simultaneously. This layering of lines engenders much rhythmic tension that is only eased by the thinning of textures and slowing of tempi. Instrumental groupings are constantly varied
and set against or in sympathy with each other manifesting as areas of almost chaotic activity or
delicate intimacy. The music initially drifts into consciousness and introduces the players one by one. The end of the piece is in the form of a strange dance where all the instruments join together to orchestrate an idea that only fully reveals itself at the close of the work. The music ends with an upbeat from the percussion that opens the way for what is to follow.



Easter Totem 2007 Duration: 2.35

For flute, trumpet, tenor trombone, contra bass tuba, violin, viola, cello, double bass, celesta and
vibraphone.

Shortest piece, lighter and carefree, focused upon scalic passages resultant from compositional processes in Autumn Rhythm. Many sonorities occur in the bass register with the flute lifting the texture and playing the role of a gentle protagonist. Trumpet and trombone are muted throughout to create an acidic sound while the strings issue a blithe textural backdrop to the main activity.



Lucifer 2007 Duration: 7.35

For B flat clarinet, three tenor trombones, percussion and electronics.

This piece is not necessarily a portrait of the Devil, but it does communicate darkness and melancholy. Though the clarinet features, the three trombones and percussion predominate, creating a violent, impatient and brutal sensation. The clarinet by contrast has a plaintive and lyrical role. It is the juxtaposition of these elements combined with the gentle nature of the electronics that builds a character portrait of contrary shades.



Shimmering Substance 2007 Duration: 4.16

For flute, oboe, bassoon, 2 trumpets, violin, viola, 'cello, piano, virginal and percussion.

Shimmering Substance, as the name suggests, is the most active and rhythmically vital piece of the set: Generally loud and swift with a steady yet complex inter-relation between instruments. It also contains elements of fun and playfulness, sometimes verging on complete breakdown, but always drawing back from the brink of portentous disaster. The music is both chaotic and ordered, moves constantly forwards and closes as enigmatically as it opens.



Autumn Rhythm 2007 Duration: 5.04

For small string ensemble.

The first of two string ensemble pieces in I am Nature, Autumn Rhythm concentrates on the use of string harmonics, predominantly natural harmonics: Pitch restrictions create a cohesive centre to the work. A solo violin provides relief to these textures; played sul tasto throughout occasioning a suppressed tone with an introverted expressiveness. The work has a calm,
gentle and hypnotic feel; a veritable musical mobile constantly relaying analogous events but in an ever varying set of relations.



Stenographic Figure 2007 Duration: 8.00

For contrabass tube and double bass with 2 violins, 2 harps, percussion and electronics.

This piece dwells in a low register, primarily a dialogue twixt double bass and contrabass tuba. To lighten the texture, two harps are included, often heard antiphonally and set to different modes. The percussive nature of the harps adds a piquant and even pointillist nature to the sound-scape with the two violins using only natural harmonics to take the pitch spectrum to the high treble. It is the material from these violin lines when expanded developed into use in Autumn Rhythm. Percussion and electronics add further harmonic and textural elements; in mood, reflective and introspective.



Alchemy 2007 Duration: 9.58

For two small string ensembles.

Much of the material for Alchemy draws upon Shimmering Substance and ultimately from violin passages in Stenographic Figure, but here realised in a totally different manner. The two string ensembles frequently play antiphonally, but are integrated in such a way that the exchange of musical material isn't just a simple back and forth interplay between the two ensembles. The music moves forwards through various pitch centres and tempi, constantly
building towards a full realisation of the material between both ensembles at the climax of the work. Some of the music has an elegiac feel, but at its heart, the material is rhythmic and agitated. The music begins expressively and ends gently.



Convergence 2007 Duration:10.57

For percussion ensemble (6 players)

Convergence is perhaps the most abstract and complex piece on this disc. To further emphasise the abstract nature of the music I largely avoided the use of pitched percussion and subsequently any form of melodic development. In using mainly non-pitched percussion and a huge battery of sounds and colours, Convergence relies predominantly on its rhythmic content and variation in degrees of event density to create its contrasts and structures. Pollock's 'Convergence' is a vast pictorial work with a dense and complex surface forming numerous layers of activity. The music expresses this energy and density, complexity and texture, set against and through time whilst forming shapes and structures that function in a distinctly musical context.



Pasiphae 2007 Duration: 13.31

For viola, bassoon, trumpet in B flat, french horn, percussion and electronics.

A melancholic piece: Pasiphae is an initial exposition of interaction between the viola and bassoon, succeeded latterly by horn and trumpet. Perhaps, as the most emotionally overt of all the nine pieces in I am Nature, the music is intense with a strong directional flow, reaching a stark climax that eventually fades to a pseudo coda. The viola moves through several areas of active and calm music but adheres to its sense of melancholy and gloom. The emotional gravity of this piece resonates with the preceding activity to conclude the cycle of I am Nature.


Copyright: Keith Evans/Marc Yeats 2007