A Cellist on the Skytrain (2004)

stereo tape

4 min. 59 sec.

“A Cellist on the Skytrain” was composed in 2004, while I was an undergraduate student at Simon Fraser University. Being a music student, and a cellist, I would often have to lug my cello to school (on the SFU campus at Burnaby Mountain), a journey which involved two bus connections and a skytrain. I have always been fascinated with the musicality of Vancouver’s skytrains — the audible glissandi, the harmonic overtones, and the rhythmic motion of the trains were all things I could relate to as a string player. The piece is simply a field recording taken of one such journey to school, with a superimposed cello counterpoint.

• Performed in many locations, including at the Sonic Boom Festival, at the Western Front, Vancouver, 16 March, 2006.

 

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