Paula Matthusen · Composer

I have long been intrigued by the double nature of parks, particularly in New York City, as places of play and exploration by day and sites to be avoided at night. The Great Lawn in Central Park proved doubly interesting, as it was once a reservoir for the Old Croton Aqueduct (which I recorded from 2011 – 2014). Its vastness is now perceivable through the wide open field – a host to numerous baseball games, picnics near Turtle Pond, joggers, and a range of birds and insects.

Drawing from the imagined soundscape of the park at night “before the combustion engine and radio monopolized the earth and air” conjured by Ives in Central Park in the Dark, the source material for on the imagined relations of night sounds (and silent darkness), for trumpet and fixed media, is drawn from field recordings conducted overnight at the Great Lawn, beginning at the start of summer in June, and ending in early September. Each overnight recording session began with Andy Kozar, who commissioned the piece, intoning the recording on his trumpet, performing musical lines derived from Ives’ original work. As such, the piece is interested in the present soundscape of the city that never sleeps, and listens in on the various states of activity as they transition gradually from sunset to sunrise, as well as early to late summer.

on the imagined relation of night sounds (and silent darkness) was premiered by Andy Kozar in spring 2014. The piece was released on his album A Few Kites.