OUT NOW | Violinist Pauline Kim Harris New "Wild at Heart" CD

The second CD in her Chaconne Project trilogy, the disc presents four reincarnations for solo acoustic violin of J. S. Bach's Chaconne

 

The four interpretations of J. S. Bach's Chaconne presented on this CD are "Shakonn" 
by Yoon
-
Ji Lee (2014), "morsels" 
by Elizabeth Hoffman (2018), 
"Long Waves and Random Pulses
" by Annie Gosfield
 (2012), and "
C
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A
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C
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E" by John King 
(2013).

"Chaconne Project is a process of personal spiritual awakening through the Bach Chaconne — an iconic work that has been described as being like a “secret message in a bottle” from Bach to God," Pauline told The Violin Channel.

"It really began in 2012 when I turned to the Bach Chaconne for solace during a very difficult time in my life. I played it nearly every day for a while. It would transport me into another world — a place where all the things I was feeling could be released freely. A desire to share this experience came over me and I think is what ultimately inspired me to create Chaconne Project.

"A work like the Chaconne demands both performer and listener to engage with all your heart, body, and soul. Encountering one’s mortality exposes us to human fragility — an irreversible transition. I found that the Chaconne brought to life three essential elements that feed our soul: peace, gratitude and optimism. This draws us to become part of the collective force that we inhabit known as the cosmos.

"In response to the Bach Chaconne, all of these contemporary chaconnes echo reincarnations of Bach’s iconic work through the unique voices of the individual composers.

"Composers Yoon-Ji Lee, Elizabeth Hoffman, Annie Gosfield and John King on 'Wild At Heart' are close friends and collaborators to whom I owe much gratitude in embarking on this journey with me.

"I look forward to connecting with my listeners throughout this journey and hope that along the way, we can strengthen our spiritual understanding to bring forth positive energies to humanity through these shared experiences."

You can purchase the disc on Sono Luminus label, here.

 

"Shakonn" 
by Yoon
-
Ji Lee (2014) focuses on the internal connection between Bach, Harris, and the composer. Yoon
-
Ji
 writes, “By pulling the
 Chaconne
 to an extreme point of transformation, the fragmented music melts into the different types 
of energy that Pauline and I create. While the new music creates marks of the 
Chaconne, Pauline also leaves her own
 marks through her voice, which is based on the elements of her grandfather’s sijo. In doing so, the three of us inscribe our 
beings into this evolving music, as my composition and Pauline’s playing keep revolving around Bach’s 
musical materials.”

"morsels" 
by Elizabeth Hoffman (2018) creates a world out of small musical gestures. Hoffman explains, “
The piece is an
almost frozen world of minutiae, delicate and giving equal weight to the shaped space between the sounds. The piece
’s
world of small, simple gestures requires a different sort of listening than is the case with traditional phrasing.”

"Long Waves and Random Pulses
" by Annie Gosfield
 (2012) is an imaginary duet for violin and jammed radio sounds, 
which Gosfield composed a
nd researched at the American Academy in Berlin — where she studied archival recordings of
 jammed radio signals used to block transmissions during World War II. Gosfield writes, “The materials that influenced the 
piece includes a repeated six
-
note figure fro
m an Italian radio jamming device, a buzzing pitched pulse used in German
interference, and a quote from J.S. Bach’s
 Chaconne
 in D minor as it could have been heard in a jammed broadcast.”

John King describes his "
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N
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E" 
(2013), as “a reflection o
n the form, chaconne, using gestures and
techniques
 which proceed from the complex to the simple; from multiplicities to simple single unison sounds.” He writes that “this is
 realized in multiple sequences throughout the work and requires great physical strength and conceptual insight. Pauline has
 mastered all this with her splendiferous interpretation."

You can read more about Pauline Kim Harris' Chaconne Project, here.