List of Works

 

"The Long Voice of Silence" for cello and tape. Premiere tba.

 

Mass of Dissolution

For percussion trio, performed by Tigue. Premiere at The Kitchen, January 2019

 

 

Acoustic Shadows

Acoustic Shadows I–III is a series of musical performances and sound installation that took place inside the enclosed hollow body of the Deutzer Bridge in Koln, Germany, originally recorded in July of 2018. Spanning approximately 440 meters across the Rhine River, the extraordinary acoustics and rich existing sonic architecture of this site acted as a point of departure for a series of site-responsive compositions for acoustic instruments, electronics and resonant space.

To stage Acoustic Shadows, an eight-channel speaker system was distributed throughout the span of the bridge. Three instrumental performances over the course of a week activated the physical resonances of the bridge. Fragments of each performance were captured by microphones installed in the space and then played back through the eight-channel sound system in a loop of overlapping moments, resulting in a sonic accumulation that occurs over long stretches of time: a musical performance with no clear ending. The first performance, for solo alto saxophone, served as the basis for the rest of the piece, as the sounds generated here were played back as an installation throughout the following days. The second performance built upon the first, this time with an eight-piece brass ensemble. Here, the sounds produced were captured and played back in a similar fashion as the first performance. On the last day, a percussion trio closed out the week and completed the project.

Now available on SA Records, April 14th 2020. More info here.

 

Vertical Octet

Brass Octet featuring TILT Brass. Premiere at Levy Gorvy Gallery November 2018, in conjunction with Ellsworth Kelley/Alexander Calder exhibition.

A site-responsive composition that distributes a brass octet throughout the three floors of the Levy Gorvy exhibition space. Vertical Octet is a four-dimensional composition that incorporates choreography of players to exploit various spatial and acoustic features of the performance rooms. Both the ensemble and the audience are allowed a roving perspective. Taking tunings based on the natural resonance of each room, brass players use particular extended techniques to create moving masses of sound that at once speak to motion and contrast in Kelley and Calder’s works, but also references the existing architecture of the gallery.

 

 

Terminus

For saxophone quartet, site-specific piece composed for the Marine A grain elevator at Silo City, Buffalo NY, 2017. Made possible by Squeaky Wheel. Performed by Lea Bertucci, Steve Baczkowski, Bill Sacks, and Kyle Ohlsen.  

 

Our Collective Cynicism is a Product of Failed Revolution

For Trombone and Tape, 2016. Performed by Chris McIntyre.

"Our Collective Cynicism is a Product of Failed Revolution is a composition for amplified trombone and tape composed by Lea Bertucci and developed in collaboration with Chris McIntyre. A sonic metaphor for the limits of our perception for changing conditions over glacial periods of time, this work questions the conditions we as citizens and listeners accept as the norm. Over the course of twenty five minutes, this piece accumulates in volume and density to call attention to the way that listeners adjust to slowly-paced changes over time; the work begins quietly and in the lowest frequency ranges then slowly amasses a dense totality of sound. The thresholds of tolerance and audibility."

 

 

Oracle

For children's choir. 2016 | Presented by Blank Forms at Madison Square Park

 

 

Quadraphonic Cello

"An instrument, multichannel installation, and platform for audio-visual composition, the Quadraphonic Cello re-imagines a classical cello as a vehicle for surround sound. A customized pickup had been devised using piezo-electric wire directly on each of the four strings. When the cellist bows, plucks or taps this wire, four discrete signals are produced and routed to a quadraphonic array of speakers. Developed through the Harvestworks New Works Fellowship, this instrument is a three dimensional musical apparatus tailored to multi-channel composition and the sculpting of sonorous space. In collaboration with Tommy Martinez and MV Carbon."

qc2

 

 

Double Bass Crossfade

Composition for 2 Double-Basses and 10-channel sound. Premiered at Knockdown Center as part of AUDITORIUM, 2015. Performed by James Ilgenfritz and Sean Ali

 

"Double Bass Crossfade positions two double bassists at opposite corners of the Knockdown Center's cacophonous main room. The instruments are wirelessly amplified, allowing the performers to slowly move across the room over the course of 40 minutes. As the performers change their position, the sounds they play are dynamically routed from speaker to speaker according to their location, creating in their wake a mutable, engulfing sound-field."

 

 

The Cepheid Variations

Composition for Viola, Cello and Tapes in two movements. Premiered January 2015 at ISSUE Project Room

"Lea Bertucci opens her 2015 ISSUE Residency with the premiere of The Cepheid Variations I + II, a pair of new works for pre-recorded sound collage and strings. Born out of an interest in the timbral and acoustic possibilities of harmonics, these pieces combine extended techniques for cello and viola with concrete sound, producing a shimmering mass of layered harmonics and ghostly resonances. Drawing upon the natural acoustics of ISSUE's 22 Boerum Place theater, The Cepheid Variations explore movement of sound in space through the use of dissonance, wide dynamic fluctuations and particular sonic textures. Fragile harmonics that arise from the acoustic instruments give way to searing collage material, the two elements eventually obscuring one another. With Leila Bordreuil, cello, and Jeanann Dara, viola."