Heroine by Pauline Kim Harris

These pieces are best heard continuously, but for ease of navigation track divisions have been added.

HEROINE
“In reimagining the Bach Chaconne and Ockeghem’s Deo Gratias, I searched for meaning and connection to the greater, mysterious universe. My collaborator Spencer Topel, and I created an expansive sonic experience. It is as close to stopping time as I can imagine.”
—Pauline Kim

AMBIENT CHACONNE
A reimagining of the Chaconne from the Partita in D minor (BWV 1004) by J.S. Bach.
Composed by Pauline Kim Harris and Spencer Topel

Ambient Chaconne is an immersive exploration of the J. S. Bach Partita No. 2 in D Minor: IV. Chaconne (BWV 1004). Unfolding over 42 minutes Ambient Chaconne blends live and pre-recorded violin with electronics. Using both human and machine transcription, the Chaconne serves as the structural underpinning to the work, appearing often as small disassociated fragments, and at other times in extremes: consisting of extended passages of sounded or silent materials. As with renditions of the Chaconne by past composers such as Brahms and Busoni, Ambient Chaconne extends the notion of transcription metaphysical, framing the Chaconne both as a musical composition and as a collective-subconscious memory.

DEO
A reimagining of Deo Gratias (ca. 1497) by Johannes Ockeghem.
Composed by Pauline Kim Harris and Spencer Topel

Deo is an acoustic-electronic transcription of Johannes Ockeghem’s stunning Deo Gratias devised as a complement to Ambient Chaconne. Notable as a 36-part canon, Ockeghem evokes singing of angels in heaven via an innovation on a traditional canon, using this ancient musical device as a kind of acoustic feedback delay. In essence, our Deo expands this idea of delays to a canon of thousands, in an ever expanding and infinite soundscape, where the melodies eventually dissolve into resonance.

Tracklist

1.	Ambient Chaconne I	10:36

2.	Ambient Chaconne II	8:46

3.	Ambient Chaconne III	11:29

4.	Ambient Chaconne IV	11:21

5.	Deo I	9:28

6.	Deo II	13:02

7.	Deo III	7:02

Credits

released September 27, 2019

POST-PRODUCTION PRODUCERS: Daniel Shores, Spencer Topel and Pauline Kim Harris
SESSION PRODUCER: Marlan Barry
RECORDING, MIXING & MASTERING ENGINEER: Daniel Shores
EDITING ENGINEER: Daniel Shores
PHOTOGRAPHY: Matt Dine (portraits), Allison Noah (recording session photo)
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Caleb Nei
COVER: Abdelkader Benchamma, Representation of Dark Matter, Stairwell Installation, The Drawing Center, April 10, 2015-August 1, 2016.
Photo: Martin Parsekian
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Collin J. Rae

RECORDED AT: Sono Luminus Studios, Boyce, Virginia
September 20-25, 2018

Mixed and mastered on Legacy Audio speakers. legacyaudio.com
Recorded with Merging Technologies Horus. Mastered with Merging Technologies Hapi. Recorded in DXD at 24 bit, 352.8kHz.

License