I have been fortunate to have found a kindred spirit in Sue Carman-Vian. Sue had gathered a troupe of wonderful artists under the name of Catharctic Circle to collaborate with her in creating multi-media theatrical performances and films. It evolved that my main contributions would be sound. As film and performance projects materialized sound tracks were needed and I was excited that Sue trusted me to compose for them. Sue always had imaginative ideas that were challenging and took me to unexpected places. Now years later, I have selected some of the sound works from our Catharctic collaborations and reworked them for solo piano. Many of the films and videos are available on Sue's website [ https://sites.google.com/site/suecarmanvian/home ]
"Cross Dressing" is a film, in collaboration with Jeff Bloomer, we made in the early 90s where Sue had many takes on how fashion crosses paths with our inner and outer worlds. The sound track has field recordings and sampled sounds that don't translate to the keyboard, but most of the music-like themes are here with some added opportunities for improvisation.
"Chandelier Dress" is from the piece titled "It Takes One To Be One" and the composition provides a soundtrack for Sue's elaborate dress and her movements. I don't recall what Sue had suggested, but it all seemed to work.
"Candy Store" is a film, made with Jeff Bloomer, that links many histories for Sue personally and for all her collaborators. I added some material in the piano version that developed as I was relearning the piece - some additions allow for improvisation. A recording should be ready for next update.
"Tableze" is a film, in collaboration with Jeff Bloomer, that appears to be one long horizonal tracking sequence, cleverly edited with repeating motives and characters from the sublime to the ridiculous. I took the repetition idea and composed a piece with just one repeating melody phrase. That phrase varies with different rhythms and treatments. This is still a work-in-progress.