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Samuel Andreyev (b. 1981)
electronic works / 2007-2013
- Rrêves de Triscal
2:36
Paris, 2007
Final mix: 2012
Rrêves de Triscal (2007) uses objects made of glass, subjecting the raw sounds to a variety of subsequent electronic manipulations. The piece was made without any sort of plan, and the form emerged organically, through a reactive process.
- Situation Temporaire
5:00
First version: Paris, 2008
Final mix: 2012
Situation Temporaire (2008) is even more extreme: its unique source material was an old cassette tape recorded at least 10 years previously, that I found in a huge collection of such tapes when clearing out my parents’ attic. Crucially, I have no memory of having made this recording, and I cannot know whether it was made intentionally or not. Most of the tape is either blank, or features only distant noises coming from other rooms of a house: a spoon carelessly dropped on a kitchen countertop, a voice from upstairs, and the percussive noises of the recorder itself being turned on or off, as well as its various gradiants of self-noise. The piece takes these 'junk' materials and fashions them into a hermetic object, intentionally devoid of any expressive qualities.
- The Impromptu
For Moog synthesizer
3:43
Toronto, 2011
The Impromptu (2011 was recorded entirely on an analog Moog synthesizer. In a radical break with my usual process, the piece was intentionally made very quickly with no premeditation and virtually zero after-the-fact editing; a sort of automatic writing of electronic sound.
- Flexophonie
2:05
Paris, 2011
Flexophonie was made in the studios of IRCAM in 2011 and is a étude on attack–resonance figures. The sound sources included a marxophone, which is a sort of keyed zither; an alarm clock, and a pair of glass tubes rattled against each other.
- Jonché de croulantes merveilles
7:51
for cello and live electronics
Askar Ishangaliyev, cello
Performed live at IRCAM, Paris, May 2012
Jonché de croulantes merveilles, for cello and live electronics, was also created at IRCAM. It resulted from two parallel investigations: the fragile and unstable legno tratto technique of cello playing, in which the wood of the bow, rather than the hair, is drawn across the strings; and the downsampling and primitive synthesis capabilities of the Casio SK-1 sampling keyboard. The cello sounds were recorded in the highest possible quality, and then fed into the Casio and played back through its built-in speaker; these sounds were then eletronically treated and combined with the live cello part. The title is taken from Raymond Roussel’s poem Nouvelles impressions d’Afrique and translates to ‘strewn with crumbling marvels’; this is his description of the architectural heritage of France, but it seemed an equally good description of the strange sound-world of this composition.
- Grid 1
5:05
Warkworth, Canada, 2013
- Grid 2
2:49
Madrid/Warkworth, 2013
The two Grid pieces were made during the late summer and early fall of 2013. I made field recordings in several different locations (outdoors in the Ontario woods; a kitchen in the Casa de Valázquez in Spain), and braided these completely unrelated materials into a mosaic-like structure.
- Music Time
20:18
Madrid, 2013
Music Time (2013), my most recent electronic work to date, is perhaps my attempt to transfigure and integrate fully my early experiences with junk equipment and primitive technologies. Everything in the piece is made with low-cost materials: a children’s cassette recorder was used to record the sounds, which were then played back into a large zinc planter, repurposed as a resonator; and then this process was repeated several times. Other sound sources included a pen with a built-in 8-bit recording capability, for recording voice memos; a destroyed piano; toy xylophones, and cheaply-made tourist cowbells. At over twenty minutes, it is intentionally overlong and inexpressive, and may try the patience of even the most adventurous listener.
Biography
Samuel Andreyev is a composer, author, professor and host of the Samuel Andreyev Podcast. His chamber, orchestral, vocal and solo works have been performed, recorded and broadcast throughout the world. His YouTube channel, interviews and lectures have been viewed by millions of people. Andreyev was born in Kincardine, Ontario and grew up in Toronto, where for many years he was an active member of the city’s experimental literary scene, while simultaneously pursuing studies in composition, oboe and music theory. In 2003, he moved to France, studying composition, analysis, orchestration and electroacoustics at the Paris Conservatory and IRCAM, as well as completing his oboe studies under Ensemble InterContemporain soloist Didier Pateau. Also an author, he has published two books of poetry, and is presently at work on a third. A book of conversations about his work with the French composer and musicologist Etienne Kippelen will be released by Editions MF (Paris) in the fall of 2021. Portrait CDs of his music are available from Kairos Records (Vienna) and Klarthe Records (Paris), as well as numerous individual works recorded on various labels. As host of the Samuel Andreyev podcast, he presents lectures on musical topics, as well as discussions with prominent figures as diverse as Brian Ferneyhough, every member of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, Linda Catlin Smith, Van Dyke Parks and Adam Neely. Samuel Andreyev’s music has been featured in portrait concerts in Bern, Geneva, Toronto, Paris, Kyiv, Strasbourg, Montréal, Tours, and many other cities. Andreyev is a laureat of the Henri Dutilleux Prize (2012, for ‘Night Division’), and the Grand Prix Lycéen des Compositeurs (2020, for ‘Vérifications’). He is also Vice President of the music council of the Fondation Prince Pierre (Monaco). His works are exclusively published by Edition Impronta (Mannheim).
RESOURCES:
 Samuel Andreyev's UbuWeb Top Ten
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