PARTICIPATION
Cannonade
The Austrian composer Joseph Haydn developed the symphony, string quartet, and piano trio into some of the most important musical forms. “Cannonade” collides all of his 108 symphonies, producing textures of great density. Soon after starting this piece, I realized that it’s the most complex electronic project I’d ever envisioned. The current version thus only contains the first movements. I plan on adding the rest over the following year, for a meta-symphony of two or three hours. The title is based on Napoleon’s May 1809 bombing of Vienna, which Haydn survived, but died shortly thereafter. The French army entered the city a few days following the barrage. A cavalry officer went under the composer’s window, and aptly sang an aria from his oratorio “The Creation,” completed in 1798. Haydn apparently appreciated the gesture. Most of the recordings I used come from the Hungarian conductor Ádám Fischer and the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, brilliantly performed between 1987 and 2001.
Vedran Mehinovic was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Composition from New England Conservatory, and a doctorate from UC Santa Cruz. In 2007, his piece RA was selected as one of just three orchestral works to be performed during the Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam, winning Honorable Mention at the week’s end. An enthusiast of world arts, Mehinovic has organized concerts of Korean, Hindustani, Uyghur, and Chinese music. His works have been performed in Bosnia, Croatia, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, and the United States.
Artist Location: New Haven, CT
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