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.

Pauline Kim Harris

Pauline Kim Harris, aka PK or Pauline Kim is a GRAMMY™-nominated violinist and composer. The youngest student to have ever been accepted into the studio of legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz, she has since appeared throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia as soloist, collaborator and music director. Currently known for her work with classical avant-punk violin duo String Noise with her husband, Conrad Harris of the FLUX Quartet, she has toured extensively with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, has been a long standing member of the SEM Ensemble and OstravskaBanda in the Czech Republic and has been a guest artist with leading new music ensembles such as Talea, ICE, Alarm Will Sound, Argento, TRANSIT,  Object Collection, Glass Farm Ensemble, Ensemble LPR, Wordless Music and Ensemble Signal in New York City.

Active in the experimental music scene, her work extends into interdisciplinary worlds, crossing boundaries and connecting visual art, electronics, media, film and dance to music. She has premiered and recorded works by Alvin Lucier, John Zorn, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, George Lewis, David Lang, Du Yun, Annie Gosfield and more.

Crossing over into the rock and pop worlds, she has played and recorded as collaborator and leader for Jeff Beck, Lenny Kravitz, David Byrne (Talking Heads), Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Tyondai Braxton, Max Richter, Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes), Jon Brion, Savion Glover, Gabriel Kahane, Mica Levi (Micachu and the Shapes), Jay Z/Beyoncé, Adele, Peter Gabriel, Somi, Jane Siberry, Macy Grey, Laurie Anderson, Björk, Roscoe Mitchell, Max Richter, Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend), Michael Leonhart, Placido Domingo, Joni Mitchell, John Cale (Velvet Underground), Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin & Wood), Jason Moran, Dan Romer, William Basinski, Jherek Bischoff, Stars of the Lid, Goldfrapp, Chilly Gonzales, Louis Michot (Lost Bayou Ramblers), Kishi Bashi, Nico Muhly & Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), Nu Deco Ensemble and with Jónsi Birgisson (Sigur Ros) in the fall of 2019.

paulinekimharris.com

Spencer Topel

Spencer Topel is an artist and designer combining sound, installation and architecture. He was educated at The Juilliard School, Cornell University, and later joined the faculty at Dartmouth College as a professor of music. There he collaborated with installation artist Soo Sunny Park on several projects including Capturing Resonance for the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park. This intersectional effort led Topel to develop a body of work over the past ten years combining sound, architecture, and performance. Most recently, Topel was Artist-in-Residence at The Yale Quantum Institute, where he and his team developed the first-ever quantum musical synthesizer.

spencertopel.com

Track List

1-4. Ambient Chaconne     42:11
5-7. Deo     29:32

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

Total time: 71:43
Release date: September 27, 2019
UPC: 053479223524

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Quotes and Reviews

“This album is some kind of miracle… …this the ideal use of Bach in the 21st century… …There’s something healing about Heroine and I recommend listening to it without delay.”

Jeremy Shatan, AnEarful

“Strings sing rapturously to lulling effect, the dense mass convincingly suggesting how the music of heaven might perhaps sound. There are moments during Deo where Harris's violin exudes a rather rustic, pastoral quality, especially with the high-pitched shimmer of a strings choir behind it. With the volume turned up, the listener could begin to feel engulfed by the music but probably never more happy to be so.”

Ron Schepper, Textura

“These acoustic-electronic arrangements create a transcendent mood, expanding the original material into myriad combinations and resonances”

Blair Sanderson, AllMusic