James Harley is a Canadian composer, author, and professor of music born in Vernon, British Columbia

Vernon, British Columbia

Vernon is a city in the south-central region of British Columbia, Canada. Named after Forbes George Vernon, a former MLA of British Columbia who helped found the famed Coldstream Ranch, the City of Vernon was incorporated on December 30, 1892. The City of Vernon has a population of 35,944 , while...

. His creative output consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, electroacoustic, and vocal music. He studied at Western Washington University (B.Mus, magna cum laude, 1977–1982), Royal Academy of Music (1983–1985), Université de Paris (1986–1987), Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music, Warsaw (1987–1988), and McGill University (D.Mus., 1988–1994). He has taught at the Faculty of Music at McGill University (1989–1995), Wilfrid Laurier University (1995–1996), California Institute of the Arts (1997), University of Southern California (1997), and Minnesota State University Moorhead (1999–2004). In 2004, he took up a tenure-track position in music at University of Guelph, where he is presently Associate Professor. James Harley is also the author of the book Xenakis: His Life in Music. His areas of expertise and specialization include Digital Music, Composition, Contemporary Music Analysis, and History of Electronic/ Computer Music. Music and research by James Harley is represented by Art Music Promotion.

List of works

Orchestra

• Along the Riverrun (1983) 10 min.

Version I: 1111/1100/timp/66643

Version II: strings (20220 concertante/66644 orchestra)

• Overture Divertimento (1984) 8 min. 2222/2220/timp/strings
• Windprints (1989) 15 min. 2222/4221/3 perc/pf/strings
• Kekula (Memories of a Landscape – III) (1992) 15 min. 2222/4221/strings
• N(ouvelle)aissance (1994) 16 min. 1202/2000/1 perc/44321
• Old Rock (1996) 10 min. 2222/4221/timp/strings

Ensemble

• Sabbath (1981) 20 min. jazz ensemble (5 saxophones, 5 trumpets, 4 trombones, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, drums)
• The Tail of Pinky Oozgreen and the Mossbrains (1983) 20 min. jazz ensemble (5 saxophones, 5 trumpets, 4 trombones, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, drums)
• Stillness Dancing (1983, revised 1984) 10 min. 11 players (1111/1000/1 perc/pf/10111)
• Mobile (1984) 18 min. 10 trombones (8 tenors, 2 bass), 2 percussion
• Prelude (Under the Thin Rainfall) (1985) 7 min. flute, clarinet, horn, harp, violin, cello
• Tapisse(reve)rie (1986) 13 min. 11 players (1111/1110/10111)
• Memories of a Landscape – II (1988) 15 min. 13 strings (44221)
• Daring the Wilderness (1991) 12 min. percussion ensemble (5 players)
• Etude pour une Fete (Jazz II) (1991) 6 min. alto saxophone (or clarinet), trumpet, trombone, cello, double bass, piano
• Neue Bilder (Der Holle Rache) (1991) 10 min. piccolo, oboe, Eb clarinet, trumpet, percussion, viola, cello, double bass
• Wine of Dragons (1993) 7 min.

Version I: Taiko ensemble – 9 performers

Version II (1997): percussion ensemble (9 players)

• Kaleidarray (Jazz III) (1994) 15 min. violin/bass violin, clarinet/bass clarinet, trumpet, thai gongs, vibraphone, marimba, piano
• Cuimhneachan Urramach (1995) 15 min. solo cello and 14 players (1111/1110/1 perc/pf/11111)
• Octane-VX (1996) 8 min. flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, double bass
• Can(y)on (1997) 3 min. clarinet, trumpet, vibraphone, marimba, piano, violin, double bass
• bien serré (1999) 20 min. jazz ensemble (4 saxophones, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, electric guitar, electric bass, keyboard, drums)
• KappaMusik (2002) 13 min. jazz ensemble (4 saxophones, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 electric guitars, drums)
• aXis (2006) 12 min. 13 players (1111/1111/11111)
• soundskein (2006) 15 min. two string quartets

Chamber music

• Images (1983) 17 min. flute, vibraphone, violin, viola, cello
• Encounters – II (1984) 10 min. percussion duo
• String Quartet (1984) 10 min. 2 violins, viola, cello
• Jazz (1985) 7 min. saxophone quartet (soprano, alto, tenor, baritone)
• Here the Bird (1993) 13 min. viola, piano
• Épanoui (1995) 12 min. flute, cello, piano
• Tyee (1995) 13 min. bass flute and percussion
• Consort: Dances of the Borealis (1998) 15 min. two pianos, two percussion
• Cachées (2000) 11 min. guitar and cello
• nmaya (Kokopeli II) (2002) 12 min. percussion and piano
• TreDue Sextet (2010) 10 min. flute, clarinet, marimba/vibraphone, piano, violin, violoncello.

Instrumental

• Exposures (1984) 7 min. horn
• Portrait (1984) 8 min. flute
• Piano (1989) 14 min. piano
• Variations (1989) 21 min. piano
• Song for Nobody (1990) 8 min. Bb clarinet (alternative version for Bb bass clarinet with extended low register)
• Ma'dhanah (1990) 12 min. Accordion
• flung loose into the stars (1995) 10 min. piano
• Exh... (1999) 5 min. piccolo
• Édifices (naturels) (2001) 10 min. piano
• pLayer8a (2007) 5 min. player piano

Vocal and choral

• Five Poems by Richard Brautigan (1981) 8 min. mezzo-soprano, flute, cello, percussion, piano
• Soft Morning (1983) 7 min. (text by James Joyce) soprano solo (alternative version for mezzo-soprano)
• Singing a silence of stone (1983) 6 min. (text by e.e. cummings) soprano, harp, 2 percussion
• Two Psalms (1986) 14 min. Lullaby (Psalm 23), Jubilate Domino (Psalm 100) SATB chorus, harp
• Jubilate Domino (Psalm 100) SATB chorus, harp
• Reflections on a Prayer of Saint Augustine (1987) 13 min. (text in Latin from St. Augustine's Confessions, and The Song of Songs) SATB chorus (36 parts, 9 groups)
• one winter after(a flower)noon (1987) 8 min. (text by e.e. cummings). soprano, bass clarinet, cello, piano
• Cantico delle Creature (1993) 23 min. (text by St. Francis of Assisi) mezzo-soprano, choir (SSAATTBB), chamber orchestra (2222/2220/3 perc/piano, celeste/22222), soundfiles
• re: Hallelujah (2005) 5.5 min. (text by Leonard Cohen) soprano and chamber orchestra (1111/1111/perc/piano/11111)

Electroacoustic

• Sonnet Sonore (1985) 14 min. oboe and stereo electroacoustic
• Voyage (1986) 15 min. 4-channel electroacoustic
• Per Foramen Acus Transire (1987) 15 min. flute/bass flute and stereo electroacoustic
• Night-flowering ... not even sand – I (1989) 12 min. bassoon and electroacoustic
• Night-flowering ... not even sand – II (1990) 9 min. stereo electroacoustic
• Spangled (1996) 5 min. stereo electroacoustic
• Jardinages – I (2000) 6 min. electric guitar and tape
• Jardinages – II (2000) 6 min. stereo electroacoustic
• On Frogs (2000) 13 min. reciter, interactive electronics (3 players)
• Anasazi: Kokopeli I (2001) 11 min. amplified piccolo and electronics
• Xmix (2001) 12 min. stereo electroacoustic
• Chaotika (2001) 12 min. percussion and interactive electronics
• jem (2003) 3 min. 4-channel electroacoustic
• Wild Fruits: Prologue (2004) 16 min. 8-channel electracoustic (alternate version with slides)
• Wild Fruits: Installation (2004) open duration keyboard controller, sampler, stereo elecroacoustic
• Mashup: Derome vs Oliveros (2005) 7 min. stereo electroacoustic
• Wild Fruits 2: like a ragged flock, like pulverized jade (2006) 11 min. amplified alto flute, live electronics, 8-channel electracoustic
• blueBob (Dylan Remix) (2006) 5 min. stereo electroacoustic
• Ariel Fragments (2007) 17 min. SSSAAA choir, 8-channel electroacoustic
• pLayer8b (2008) 5 min. 8-channel electroacoustic
• re:Nude (2008) 4.5 min. stereo electroacoustic
• re:Nude:ty (2008) 1 min. stereo electroacoustic
• Wild Fruits 3: Chestnuts (2008) 13 min. 8-channel electracoustic
• re:Reckoner (2009) 4.5 min. stereo electroacoustic
• Duol (2009) 7 min. violin, guitar, soundfiles
• Raindown (MegMix) (2009) 4.5 min. stereo electroacoustic

Educational music

• Dance Set (2009) 8 min. two cellos, Grade 4 level

Music theatre

• Scenes From a Theatre on Mars (1984) 15 min. (Text: James Harley, adapted from The Last Days of Mankind by Karl Kraus) 2 speaking/acting roles (1 male, 1 female), 2 cl (2nd doubles sax), tp/flugel, vn/vl, vc.

Affiliations

AMP represents the music of Paul Steenhuisen

Paul Steenhuisen

Paul Steenhuisen is an independent composer working with a broad range of acoustic and digital media. His concert music consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal music, and often includes live electronics and soundfiles. Additionally, he creates electroacoustic, radio, and installation...

, Howard Bashaw

Howard Bashaw

Howard Bashaw is a composer of acoustic music; and a Professor of Music at the University of Alberta.Bashaw graduated as a Master of Music in 1984 and a Doctor of Musical Arts in 1989 from the University of British Columbia. He also attended the Banff Centre for the Arts where he won the Banff...

, Keith Hamel

Keith Hamel

Keith Hamel is a composer, software designer, and professor of music. His music consists of orchestral, chamber, solo, and vocal music, often focussing on live electronics and interactivity between acoustic instruments and computer.-Education:Keith Hamel studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music...

, Bob Pritchard, James Harley, André Ristic

André Ristic

André Ristic is a Canadian composer, pianist, accordion player, and music theorist. He has won several awards, including the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in 2000 for his work Catalogue de bombes occidentales, the Prix opus for Composer of the Year in 2002, and the Prix Québec-Flandre in...

, Gordon Fitzell

Gordon Fitzell

Gordon Fitzell is a composer, concert organizer, and professor of music. His catalog consists of solo, chamber and electroacoustic music, including open and improvisatory works.-Biography:...

, and Aaron Gervais

Aaron Gervais

Aaron Gervais is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music.Aaron Gervais was born and grew up in Edmonton. He studied jazz performance at Grant MacEwan College and the University of Toronto, and composition at the University of Alberta, the University of Toronto, and UCSD. He currently...

.
James Harley is an Associate Composer of the Canadian Music Centre, and a board member of the Canadian League of Composers. He is also a member of the American Composers Forum, the Canadian Electroacoustic Community

Canadian Electroacoustic Community

Founded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...

, and the International Computer Music Association.

Selected performers

Arraymusic, Codes d'Accès, Composers' Orchestra, Continuum, Corey Hamm Marc Couroux, ECM, Hammerhead Consort, Kappa, Kore, Kovalis Duo, Duo Vira, Groundswell, Hammerhead Consort, Lafayette String Quartet, McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble, McGill Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth McNutt, New Music Concerts, Patricia O'Callahan, Oshawa-Durham Symphony, Open Ears Festival, Penderecki String Quartet, Polish Society for New Music, Brigitte Poulin, Prince George Symphony, Ben Reimer, SMCQ, Transmission, Trio Phoenix, Trio Fibonacci, Alain Trudel, University of Guelph Women's Chamber Choir, Vancouver Bach Choir, Ellen Waterman.

Further reading

• Steenhuisen, Paul. 2009. "Interview with James Harley." In Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press. ISBN 978-0888644749
• Couroux, Marc. Daring the Wilderness. The Music of James Harley.
• Couroux, Marc. Daring the Wilderness: The Music of James Harley. Musicworks 69 (1997), 42–50.
• Couroux, Marc: James Harley. Circuit, Vol. 8/1 (Spring 1999).
• Homma, Martina: James Harley. In Komponisten der Gegenwart Gesamtverzeichnis. Munich: Edition text-kritik.
• Various writings on Xenakis by James Harley.
• Harley, James. “The Hills Are Alive…: Wild Fruits Creative Soundscapes Project.” eContact! 10.3 — Symposium Électroacoustique de Toronto 2007 Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium (May 2008). Montréal: CEC
  Canadian Electroacoustic Community
  Founded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community is Canada’s national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and as such is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form in its broadest definition: from “pure” acousmatic...
  
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• Harley, James. Does the Music Make the Technology Better: The Case of The Residents. In Music, Arts and Technologies: Toward a Critical Approach. Paris: l'Harmattan, 2004.
• Harley, James. The Continuous Now: Peter Hatch's Musical Vision and Community Presence. Musicworks 86, 2003.
• Harley, James. Considerations of Lutoslawski's Conception of Symphonic Form. Lutoslawski Studies, ed. Z. Skowron, Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Harley, James. The New Nihilism: L'objet sonore and the music of Richard Barrett. Musicworks 72, 1998.
• Harley, James. Generative Processes in Algorithmic Composition: Music and Chaos. Leonardo 28/3, 1995.
• Harley, James. Persepolis Review.
• Harley, James. Sound in Space 2000 Symposium review
• Harley, James. The Creative Compositional Legacy of Iannis Xenakis.

External links

• Ariel Fragments for women's choir and 8-channel electroacoustics.
• Iannis Xenakis Bibliography and Discography, compiled by James Harley.
• Classical Composers Database entry.
• Chaotika performance.
• CD's of Music by James Harley.