Three Observations by Jason Thorpe Buchanan was composed in the Spring semester of 2008 for Hornist Michael Walker. The three movements are loosely based on three poems by T.S. Eliot and allow the performer relatively free interpretation while interacting with the live electronics. Everything heard in this work will be recorded and processed in real-time, there are no pre-recorded sounds whatsoever. This degree of interaction requires a great deal of accuracy from the performer and results in every performance being slightly different. The first movement is based on altered modes revolving around an F# augmented triad, the second movement is in strict twelve-tone and is accompanied by rhythmic figures in the electronics that are generated by valve clicks and taps from the performer. The third movement is rooted tonally with an octatonic & quintal harmonic scheme. The score utilizes graphic notation and it is without barlines, rather the performer has a stopwatch and mm:ss markings that indicate real-time 'goalposts.'

Prelude - T.S. Eliot

You tossed a blanket from the bed, You lay upon your back, and waited; You dozed, and watched the night revealing The thousand sordid images Of which your soul was constituted; They flickered against the ceiling. And when all the world came back And the light crept up between the shutters, And you heard the sparrows in the gutters, You had such a vision of the street As the street hardly understands; Sitting along the bed's edge, where You curled the papers from your hair, Or clasped the yellow soles of feet In the palms of both soiled hands.

Hysteria - T.S. Eliot

As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her teeth were only accidental stars with a talent for squad-drill. I was drawn in by short gasps, inhaled at each momentary recovery, lost finally in the dark caverns of her throat, bruised by the ripple of unseen muscles. An elderly waiter with trembling hands was hurriedly spreading a pink and white checked cloth over the rusty green iron table, saying: 'If the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden, if the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden...' I decided that if the shaking of her breasts could be stopped, some of the fragments of the afternoon might be collected, and I concentrated my attention with careful subtlety to this end.                       

Morning at the Window - T.S. Eliot

They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,
And along the trampled edges of the street I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids Sprouting despondently at area gates. The brown waves of fog toss up to me         Twisted faces from the bottom of the street, And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts An aimless smile that hovers in the air And vanishes along the level of the roofs.

horn, electronics
Catalogue No. 05008

(Includes interactive Puredata patch software)