Annotated Bibliography

Rebecca Saunders
Aaron Michael Smith
December 8, 2017

Brown, Jeffrey Arlo “VOIDS: An Interview with Rebecca Saunders” last modified August
16, 2016.
https://van-us.atavist.com/rebecca-saunders

This is an enlightening and quite candid interview with Rebecca Saunders in her
Berlin home. It probes her British roots, contrasts them with her Berlin lifestyle
and her studies with Rihm in Karlsruhe. In relation to Rihm, she clarifies what
initially drew her to studying with Rihm in the early ‘90s. I thought this interview
was also of special interest because of the inclusion of the cringe-worthy, yet
obligatory question of being a woman composer and Saunders’ very spot-on
response. Lastly, the article really places her studio as a very important sonic
space for Saunders’ identity as a composer. Many photos of her studio and the
scores on her walls are included.

“Composers’ Rooms.” BBC Hear and Now. Accessed November 10, 2017.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p027vsyt/p02h1y5r

This is a nice, little slideshow of pictures of various composers in their own

personal studios and homes. As many interview and articles on Saunders
highlighted the way her room is set up and the way she studies the scores taped
to her walls, I thought it was really revealing to get to see several shots of
Saunders in her own studio, especially related to the other studios in this BBC
collection.

Edition Peters, Saunders Worklist October 2017. Online document. October 15, 2017.
 https://issuu.com/editionpeters/docs/saunders_work_list_oct_2017

This is a promotional brochure by Saunders’ publisher, Edition Peters. It includes

an updated biography on the composer, including information on her current
interests and most recent works. By reading her worklist, one is able to gain an
aura of her work and interests. By examining the titles, one sees her interest in
colors and her aesthetic leanings, by looking at the instrumentations and sizes of
pieces, one can see her frequent collaborators, institutional support, and most
interestingly her usage of soloists in larger ensembles, for instance, the
instrumentation for A Visible Trace is “for eleven conducted soloists”. Lastly, the
brochure ends with some ideas about what she is currently working on for future
performances.

Griffiths, Paul “About the Program”, program notes for Composer Portraits: Rebecca
Saunders. Columbia University, New York, April 4, 2013.

In the program for this Composer Portrait concert at Columbia on Rebecca

Saunders, as expected we learn some background biographical information on
Saunders, but we also are able to learn a little bit about the pieces being
performed on the concert, in particular murmurs and dichroic seventeen. The
author of the program notes also notes some of her British contemporaries and
comments on how her music seems to align itself more closely with composers
such as Lachenmann and Sciarrino, as opposed to her fellow Brits.

Johnstone, Sam “Rebecca Saunders’ Stasis: a symphony in space” last modified

November 2, 2016.
https://bachtrack.com/de_DE/review-rebecca-saunders-stasis-ensemblekollektiv-
berlin-october-2016

This is a review of a performance of Saunders’ piece Stasis, published in the

German branch of bachtrack, “the largest classical event finder online”. It gives a
 basic description of the piece, written for Ensemble musikFabrik but now
performed by Ensemblekollektiv in Berlin, and the piece’s set-up and usage of
spatialisation, multiple soloists and collage techniques. Additionally, the review
places her in a German lineage or pool, consisting of Helmut Lachenmann and
Beat Furrer.

Nahum, Aaron H. “A Few Moments with Rebecca Saunders” accessed November 10,
2017.
http://riotensemble.com/a-few-moments-with-rebecca-saunders/

This is an interview with Rebecca Saunders by The Riot Ensemble, in conjunction

and in promotion of the London premiere of A Visible Trace, performed on March
3, 2017. The Riot Ensemble is a London-based ensemble that has been playing
Saunders’ work more and more recently, shedding light on the British ex-pat in
her home country. In this interview, Saunders breaks down some of her ideas on
sound materials, timbre, silence and compositional process. The interview is
most specifically focused on discussing A Visible Trace, which is a piece for
eleven conducted soloists.

“Questionnaire Rebecca Saunders.” Ensemble Modern. Accessed November 10, 2017.

https://www.ensemble-modern.com/en/mediatheque/texts/2001-05-
01/questionnaire-rebecca-saunders

This is a very intriguing and short interview done with Saunders, presumably via
e-mail, due to the often short answers and even sometimes unanswered
questions. The interview was done by Ensemble Modern for their website.
Ensemble Modern is a Frankfurt, Germany-based new music ensemble that has
been an advocate for Saunders music for at least the past ten years or so. I was
very interested in this questionnaire because many of the questions were typical
composer/music/music business/new music questions that are often thrown
around both by people in new music and by people who know nothing about new
 music. Because of this, there are some questions which are found often in other
interviews with Saunders but there are others which are especially interesting to
hear her weigh in on because there aren’t many other places where one can find
her opinion on the topic, such as new music in the economic market.
Additionally, because of the probable medium of e-mail, Saunders’ playful and
more casual side is able to come out. Revealingly, Saunders also abstains from
answering a few questions which I think becomes a certain kind of statement on
particular topics such as “Where do you think New Music stands today? What
prospects does New Music have in the future?”.

Ross, Alex “Even the Score” last modified April 29, 2013.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/04/29/even-the-score

In this article, Alex Ross is reacting to an article previously published in

NewMusicBox entitled “The ‘Woman Composer’ Is Dead”, by Amy Beth Kirsten.
Alex Ross gives a breakdown of the current debates running in relation to the
topic of “women composers” to start the article before promoting the new music
series, Composer Portraits, at Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Ross
explains that this series has curated a series that removes women from the role of
minority in the world of living composers and will be featuring portraits on Sofia
Gubaidulina, Olga Neuwirth and Rebecca Saunders. The most “striking” portrait
concert for Ross was the Saunders performance. He goes on to review that
particular concert and to give some background on Saunders’ life and musical
thought. This article gives some nice background information and reveals the
composer in the eyes of a well-known music journalist and publication. It also
describes some of the particular pieces from the concert, which I also discussed
in my presentation and is linked to the program notes (for the same concert) that I
also used as a material in my presentation.

Saunders, James “Interview with Rebecca Saunders” accessed November 10, 2017.
http://www.james-saunders.com/interview-with-rebecca-saunders/
 This is a previously unpublished interview with Saunders, originally meant to be a
part of his book, The Ashgate Research Companion to Experimental Music,
although the book ended up changing directions. James Saunders notes that the
interview was done over e-mail, so while some of the discussions are somewhat
similar to the VAN interview, this is a chance to read answers that Rebecca
Saunders was able to think carefully about before responding. Additionally, as
James Saunders is also a composer and an experienced writer on new and
experimental music, so the interview is able to get quite deep and technical into
the music and the ideas behind the music. Especially enlightening is when she
goes into detail regarding her process, intuition, inspiration, planning, form,
instrumentation, and technique. Again, Rebecca Saunders discusses her UK
heritage and the difference between now living in Germany. Rebecca Saunders
also discusses her use of ‘found objects’ collages, spatialisation, and ‘sound-
surfaces’, which factor into my narrativization of her work, linking with the pieces
insideout, chroma and miniata.

Saunders, James. Introduction to REBECCA SAUNDERS: crimson. KAIROS, 2006.

compact disc liner notes

James Saunders wrote a short overview of the three pieces included on this
album, giving a peek behind the curtain of this music. The pieces included in the
album are choler, crimson, and miniata.

Service, Tom “A guide to Rebecca Saunders’ music” last modified November 5, 2012.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2012/nov/05/rebecca-
saunders-contemporary-music-guide

As the title suggests, this article is a basic primer to the music and ideas of
Rebecca Saunders. It basically gives biographical context and then suggests
some music to listen to as a starting place. It usually relates the music to some
 specific key ideas found in much of Saunders music, so it’s a great place to start
to get an idea about the composer.

Service, Tom “A guide to Wolfgang Rihm’s music” last modified September 24, 2012.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2012/sep/24/tom-service-
guide-wolfgang-rihm

This article gives a great introduction to Rihm’s music and career. It gives a
basic biographical run-down and then breaks down several of his most well-
known pieces. It’s an interesting article to use to trace the roots of Rebecca
Saunders by tracing Rihm’s relation to Germany, famous institutions, modernism
and New Simplicity.

SMASHensemble, Entrevista/Interview Rebecca Saunders sobre/about “vermillion”.

Video, 13:41. December 31, 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aelD1yA4q8

This video interview is also a promotional video for Spanish group,

SMASHensemble’s recording and video of their performances of Saunders’
vermillion. It’s a great chance to hear the composer talk about her own music
(again, in her studio in Berlin). It’s also a great introduction to Saunders’
fascination with color throughout many of her pieces, as well as her usage of
resonance and silence and her way of using instruments to create a “meta-
instrument”. Throughout the interview they play clips of the performance of
vermillion, so you are also able to compare her commentary on her ideas with this
particular piece.

Struck-Schloen, Michael “The fragile balance of sound and silence”. REBECCA

SAUNDERS: Quartet. KAIROS, 1999. compact disc liner notes
 Struck-Schloen wrote several pages of introduction for this album released on the
Kairos label in 1999. The liner notes begin with a very apt quote from Gertrude
Stein and goes on to discuss primarily Saunders’ amazing use of resonances and
silences. From this we are able to gain a clear idea on Saunders’ philosophy of
silences and how she uses this thinking in her music, as well as how she
searches for the “essence” of materials. Additionally, he quotes her discussing
her process and her difficulty with explaining her intent behind her compositions.
Struck-Schloen argues that this is why she resorts to using metaphors such as the
many colors found in her titles. The pieces included in this album are QUARTET,
Into the Blue, Molly’s Song 3, and dichroic seventeen.

Varga, Bálint András. “Chapter Twenty-Eight: Rebecca Saunders.”. In The Courage of

Composers and the Tyranny of Taste: Reflections on New Music. Rochester, NY:
University of Rochester Press, 2017.

In this book, Varga interviewed thirty-three different composers from very different
styles and nationalities. One of the main themes that Varga intends to pull out of
the subject of each interview is “How can one find courage to deal with the
sometimes tyrannical expectations of the outside world?” In this particular
chapter focusing on Saunders, Varga introduces Saunders by describing her
studio in her apartment in Berlin, as many other interviewers do. As the subject of
the entire book of interviews, suggests, the reader gains a glimpse of Saunders’
views on music and life-outside-of-music, on her background and her family life,
and on the market, the audience, and the musical “community”. Additionally, we
get a quite in depth dive into her influences, ideas and hopes and desires. She
discusses composers who have shaped her, either personally or through their
music, such as Rihm and Ustvolskaya, and how they taught her about this type of
“courage”. She also brings up many times how Beckett’s work has influenced her
own.
Musical Examples

choler (2004)
for two pianos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88SWpX5oLjo

vermillion (2003)
for clarinet, electric guitar, and cello
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQRAj8CQnFo
(no online score)

dichroic seventeen (1998)

for electric guitar, accordion, piano, 2 pecussion, violoncello, and 2 double bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vr6hkZIzDE
score:
https://issuu.com/editionpeters/docs/ep_7525__rebecca_saunders__dichroic_c50
e3bfee5851b

miniata (2004)
for solo accordion, solo piano, orchestra and choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuA_4QIlRPc
score:
https://issuu.com/editionpeters/docs/ep_10956r__rebecca_saunders__miniat

chroma (2003-2008)
for ensemble and sound objects
https://vimeo.com/17812067 (only a very small clip)
(no online score)
A Visible Trace (2006)
for eleven conducted soloists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfXUASVZSfM
score:
https://issuu.com/editionpeters/docs/ep_11059r__rebecca_saunders__a_visi

insideout (2003)
music for a choreographed installation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAZ2yHKVmbc

Stasis (2011)
for 17 soloists in different spaces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLUoSuvHWFU
(no online score)

Wolfgang Rihm – Chiffre VIII (1985/1988)

for 8 players
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uF3tffqkBk
score:
https://www.universaledition.com/themes/Frontend/UniversalEdition/frontend/_pub
lic/src/js/pdfjs/web/viewer.html?file=/resources/ansichtspartituren/ue19035-a3-
quer.pdf