Travelogue
Duration: 12:00
Instrumentation: Violin, Viola
Premiere: November 16, 2018 // WasteLAnd Music, Art Share, LA
Premiere performer: Aperture Duo (Adrianne Pope, violin; Linnea Powell, viola)
Publisher: A-Town Publications (ASCAP) © 2018
Travelogue was commissioned by Aperture Duo.
Program Note:
Practice. Travel. Check email. Rehearse. Talk. Practice. Move around. Stop. Rehearse. Think about your instrument. Be kind. Stop. Travel. Prepare for departure. Escalate. Listen to music. Wander. Enter darkness. Sleep. Fix yourself. Use the internet. Practice. Record your session. Disembark. Make change. Reflect on personal engagements. Work out nested tuplets. Compete. Wallow. Sleep. Rehearse. Work out emotional issues. Comment. Read about vaccinations. Practice. Travel. Work out. Practice. Recall grade school event. Notice time. Return to your seat.
Travelogue (2018) was written while touring Europe on a series of planes, trains, and buses. The title is a tribute to Joni Mitchell‘s album of the same name, featuring an extensive collection of her orchestrated songs. Theatricality is built into the piece through staging, text, and actions, both players doubling as train commuters and practicing musicians, while encountering a variety of notational geography.
—Erin Rogers (2018)
Travelogue is under exclusivity and currently unavailable for purchase.
Reviews:
[…] Erin Rogers’s commission for Aperture Duo was hands down my favorite piece of the night. Travelogue (2018) uses the violin and viola as musical instruments, foley objects, and the strange sounds accompanying everyone’s internal monologue while traveling. Pope and Powell got to speak, sing, recite, and argue throughout the piece. There was a bit of theatricality. At one point the two musicians are sitting too close together. They bump elbows and snap, “Excuse me, do you mind switching?” They then stand and wander around the stage space as far apart as they can. At another time, they set down their instruments and tap on iPads instead, playing with the very act of playing. When playing their instruments, Pope and Powell sound out the train doors, the clunks & bumps of railroad tracks, and the hiss of the engine and doors opening and closing at different stops. Like many “radio show” type pieces, it was a delight. I would even say that Rogers pulled out all the stops (Thank you, I’ll be here all night). […]
—Elizabeth Hambleton, New Classic LA [Full article]