Recordings

A suite of raga-inspired compositions and improvisations that grew from a fertile collaboration between Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett centered around a devotion to just intonation tuning, deep listening, and resonant spaces. Michael Harrison is a composer and pianist who is a dedicated practitioner of just intonation and North Indian classical music. He was La Monte Young's protégé and piano tuner during The Well-Tuned Piano years and a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath, and has since developed his own customized tuning systems. Guided by conversations with Christina Vantzou, who provided structural frameworks for each piece and directed the sessions, the compositions drew from Harrison's daily raga practice, using its ancient forms as starting points from which the compositions could blossom and morph. A resonant backdrop of modular synthesizers played by John Also Bennett, who also contributed piano improvisations played on Harrison's custom tuned Steinway concert grand, expanded the sessions into true collective praxis. As noted by Parul Gupta, a conceptual artist based in New Delhi who contributed the artwork for the album, "the songs feel like an extension of silence." "An observer, a pianist and a synthesist form a triangle. The observer (Christina) is both witness and guide, the pianist (Michael) is precise and intuitive, and the synthesist (John) provides a palate of drones which offer increased resonance and a supportive framework. The piano has been carefully prepared to become a resonant body. This enhancement was achieved by tuning it to two of Michael's just intonation tunings, based on his work, 'Revelation,' and North Indian classical music, or ragas. These tunings maintain mathematically precise intervals. In place of voice, sitar or tabla, is the piano, and in place of the tanpura, is the synthesizer. Playing ragas is an ancient practice of structured improvisation. Time, knowledge and memory interplay in the body and mind of the practitioner and this is a large part of the raga practice. The raga combines with muscle memory and personal aesthetics to individuate results. Through the formation of a trio, multiple perspectives and timelines collapse and the raga mutates again. These twists and turns seem to only fall back on themselves as the raga shows us that there are multiple compositions already stored in our collective memory. They blossom, morph and spring forth like nature. Nothing was written down to execute these recordings. The simplest forms were explored in the least complicated way. The first reflection of this process is what happens in the mind and body of the listener. The observer is always observing. Regions of sound tap into memory and imagination and the sound of the raga itself becomes a prismatic event." — Christina Vantzou The release collects the trio's 2019 Berlin sessions on two 45rpm records, accompanied by a risograph printed insert featuring track credits and Harrison's handwritten tuning charts used on the album.

Entered the Billboard Classical Chart in the top ten upon release. Called 'music of positively intoxicating beauty' by Steve Smith in The New Yorker. Features performances by Grammy-winning Roomful of Teeth, violinist Tim Fain, cellist Ashley Bathgate, and others, with Harrison on piano.

Just Constellations was completed in 2016 and recorded in the ultra-reverberant acoustics of the TANK Center for Sonic Arts in Rangely, Colorado in 2017. The work is comprised of four interconnected constellations of justly tuned chords and modes. The first three of these are related to harmonic regions of La Monte Young's epic The Well-Tuned Piano. "The Magic Constellation" presents three variations of "The Theme of The Magic Chord," which is one of the simplest, but most profound themes from The Well-Tuned Piano. "The Acoustic Constellation" is based on the fourth octave of the harmonic series and uses the "acoustic" mode with the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th partials (I replace the 13th partial with the 27th partial transposed down an octave). Nom-tom syllables are used throughout the work. Although the sounds of this ancient musical language are derived from mantras, they have no literal meaning. Nom-tom has been used by Indian classical vocalists for centuries to create beautiful vocal timbres and rhythmic accentuations. In "The Magic Constellation," sargam syllables, or the Indian equivalent to solfege, are also used. — Michael Harrison Commissioned by Roomful of Teeth and supported by fellowships from Yaddo and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

The debut album by Clarice Jensen, artistic director of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME). The album explores the variable differences between acoustic and electronic sound as well as depiction of the simulated and the unconscious. It was originally conceived as a collaboration between Jensen and the artist Jonathan Turner as an audio-visual work, but is here presented in its pure audible form. Building on a long and romantic tradition of solo cello repertoire, Jensen expands and confuses the familiar sound of the cello through the use of effects pedals, multi-tracking, and tape loops recorded at variable speeds, presented in works she has written for herself as well as a piece she conceived together with Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Also featured is Michael Harrison's Cello Constellations for multi-tracked cello and sine tones, written for Jensen, which meditates on long, sustaining tones.

For Harmonic Constellations, violinist Mari Kimura has collected half a dozen works for violin and electronics, by a group of American composers each of whom has a distinctive compositional style, and who take different approaches to the challenge of composing for the violin and electronics. Of particular note is the premiere recording of the title track, a major new composition from Michael Harrison, which is scored for violin with 13 pre-recorded tracks and computer generated sine tones. The work is composed of nine constellations of complex just intonation harmonies that gradually shift and evolve over time.

The Harmonic Series is a compilation of musical works in just intonation created by three generations of contemporary composers who utilize this fascinating tuning system. A dense info booklet is included with notes from each artist. This compilation was curated over the span of two years by Duane Pitre. The goal of this compilation and its accompanying liner notes is to educate listeners about the origins and use of just intonation, as well as to portray the unique beauty of this tonal "color palette," which is heard by relatively few in the Western world and explored by even fewer. Although all the artists on the compilation work within the avant-garde/experimental genre, each artist lends something unique to the collection, and each employs a different approach toward how to utilize just intonation. Within The Harmonic Series you'll find an array of instrumentation such as piano, cello, accordion, electronics, guitar, Ukelin, saxophone, violin, koto, and more. The featured artists are: Pauline Oliveros, Ellen Fullman, Charles Curtis, Michael Harrison, Greg Davis, R Keenan Lawler, Duane Pitre, Theresa Wong, and Zachary James Watkins.

A multimedia work for solo cello and 19 pre-recorded cellos, with film by Bill Morrison employing high-resolution scans of ancient nitrate footage and newly created CGI renderings depicting different views of Heaven. Commissioned by The MELA Foundation (2012). NPR Top 10 Classical Albums of 2012. Over 40 live performances and international film festivals have included Eye Filmmuseum, MIT's Center for Arts, Science and Technology, The Louvre, BAM Next Wave Festival, Ojai Music Festival, MoMA, Stuttgart Ballet, Strings of Autumn, Sundance, AFI Fest, and Bang on a Can.

A collaboration with cellist Maya Beiser and the Young People's Chorus of New York City, with Francisco J. Nunez, conductor, and Payton MacDonald, tabla and percussion. Includes Harrison's Just Ancient Loops, Hijaz, and Raga Prelude I, as well as works by J.S. Bach and Arvo Part. NPR Top 10 Classical Albums of 2012.

Revelation has twelve interconnected sections in various key centers. Originally, the main thematic material for most sections of the work was composed but the resonant tone clouds incorporated structured improvisation using a set of pre-determined pitch relationships, rhythmic patterns and ostinati to develop a complex sustained harmonic resonance with unusual acoustical effects. In order to optimize these effects Harrison wanted to be flexible enough to vary what he was playing in response to what he was hearing. The exact nature of these effects would vary according to resonances of the instrument, the precision of the tuning, the acoustics of the performance space, and even variations in temperature and humidity. However, while working on a score that would enable pianists other than himself to play the work, he eventually decided to notate the tone clouds, with their complex, shifting rhythmic patterns. As he scored the work, he found that he could more fully develop the themes and material by writing everything out rather than leaving the development to the discretion of the performer. Named Best Classical Recording of 2007 by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and Time Out New York.

Rumi: Lovedrunk (Remastered) is a groundbreaking audio project that features several talented musicians from Persia, Europe, Latin America and the U.S., and includes original compositions by Olivier Glissant and Michael Harrison. This album blends the exotic and the meditative with hip grooves and inventive arrangements and the deep, resonant and hypnotic voice of Shahram Shiva. Rumi is the greatest exponent of the ecstatic intoxication of mystic love. Shahram Shiva, award-winning Rumi translator, performer and author, captures the essence of the poet's message through his passionate performances. This union of spoken verse and world music melds magic with love. This meticulously composed and produced CD is much more than a "Spoken Word" project and can be listened to both for the beauty and power of Rumi's words, as well as for the captivating and inspiring mood of the music and poetic images.

Compilation appearance preserving Michael Harrison's work within the Windham Hill piano catalog.

"From Ancient Worlds" is an allegory for a journey of the soul. "Song of the Rose," representing the soul, is the central theme of the work, and is presented in the style of a chorale (although it also appears in numerous variations, such as "Quest for the Rose", "Epiphany" and "Rose of Remembrance"). Various motifs, cadences and harmonic relationships from "Song of the Rose" are echoed in other parts of the work as well, depicting the soul's return in different guises as it travels through the imaginary landscapes of the various sections. At the end of its journey, "Song of the Rose" returns in the elegiac "Rose of Remembrance", where phrases are juxtaposed with flashbacks of the major themes of the work. This is a metaphor for what is believed to be one of the first experiences of the afterlife: seeing life pass before your eyes in the presence of a Being of Light. "Rose of Remembrance" reaches for a glimpse behind the veil of our reality as it explores the experience of passage into the other world. What once existed is never completely finished, and as the soul lives on, so the final note of "From Ancient Worlds" is left unresolved. Voted the No. 2 Best Recording of the Year on WNYC-FM's New Sounds Listener's Poll.

In Flight is a collection of original piano solos in both just intonation and standard piano tuning. In the artistic hands of pianist and composer Michael Harrison, contemporary acoustic piano finds a new elegance and clarity of lyric expression. Blending classical, impressionistic, and jazz influences, his melodies and rhythms can be energetically in flight or as intimate as a breath of air against distant wind chimes. They remain most memorable for their subtle power and emotional grace. The title track was used by Columbia Pictures in the movie trailers and television advertisements for the Academy Award winning movie Awakenings. Harrison is one of the new wave of composers working with just intonation, an ancient tuning system which is based on natural acoustic intervals. Both Because of You and The Swan Has Flown to the Mountain Lake are presented in this special tuning. Characterized by poignant melodies, rich harmonies, and layers of rhythmic patterns, his sounds are technically adept and deeply emotional.