Bright Codes

All works written for Jacob Greenberg between 2013 and 2021. The small portable variety of harmonium is a core element of Indian classical music, and is a modification of the large European instrument invented in the 1820s. The foot pedal bellows of the European model became a hand pump for the instrument that was imported to the Indian subcontinent; the internal brass reeds that receive air are the same in both versions. Two models of harmonium are used for this recording: a Delhi-style twin-reed instrument (male, bass) and a Kolkata-style triple-reed instrument (female, male, bass). White Rainbow for harmonium Bright Codes for piano A white rainbow, also called a fogbow, is caused by the small droplets inside a cloud; these bows have only weak colors or are colorless. The four quiet miniatures of Bright Codes—to be played in any order without pause—allowed me to go somewhere within myself I have not visited before. —Dai Fujikura Fünf Worte for harmonium and voice Cineshape 4 for piano Fünf Worte is a set of five intimate miniatures, each of which explores one—and only one—German word. Cineshape 4 explores virtuosic perpetual movement and repetition. It is directly modeled on the structure and certain narrative elements of the film Run Lola Run (1998). Like the film, the piece starts in exactly the same way three times, but develops in starkly different ways. —Amy Williams The Memory of Now for harmonium with sonic vocals The player or players are invited to listen to external and internal sounds without judgment, while allowing momentary states of being to flow freely. —IONE Ghostlight for lightly prepared piano Seedling for harmonium and electronics A ghostlight is a small, single bulb that shines on the dark stage when a theater is closed and unoccupied. In this piece, the piano’s preparation is with objects on or between the strings of certain notes to create microtonal beatings and gong-like sounds. The sound of brass reeds freights the sonic baggage of pasts both real and imagined. Like stowaway seeds, the sturdy instruments that house them migrate with their hosts. —Nathan Davis

Pianist Jacob Greenberg is a longtime member of the International Contemporary Ensemble and released his solo debut album, Bright Codes, on its in-house Tundra label.