Douglas J. Cuomo’s Only Breath in Performance by Maya Beiser in New York; Innova Recording Set for May 25

On Wednesday, April 14th at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City, Maya Beiser celebrates the upcoming release of her newest album, Provenance with a performance of music from the album that includes Douglas J. Cuomo's Only Breath for solo cello and electronics. To be issued on May 25th on Innova, Provenance includes works commissioned by contemporary composers from Armenia, Kurdish, Iran, Israel and the US and displays the varied and intertwining cultural traditions of each country in brilliant fashion.

Beiser premiered Only Breath in the summer of 2009 at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven, CT and the work reflects the composer's experience in the village of Andalucia, Turkey. The composer elaborates:

Only Breath was inspired by the stillness and sounds of the countryside of Andalucia, and the experience of being awakened before dawn in a small village in Turkey by the sound of the Sufi call to prayer emanating simultaneously (and entirely independently) from a number of different minarets.

I think of this piece as a free rumination on the sound of the wind, breath, and melodies swirling around in space. Electronics capture the sound of the cello in real time and spin it around the listener, creating an aural landscape that is reminiscent of these two experiences, and yet also one that is "not composed of elements at all, " as Rumi says in his poem Only Breath.

Douglas J. Cuomo–Composer Profile

www.douglasjcuomo.com

Learn more on the performance by visiting www.lepoissonrouge.com.

Douglas J. Cuomo
Only Breath (2008)
for solo cello and electronics
10'