for piano, live video and electronics
The piece was premiered by the composer on June 28, 2024, at the SPLICE Institute 2024, held at the Dalton Center of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Program notes
Before the invention of sirens, bells were the primary means of alerting people to impending threats. In many countries, this anxious, repetitive bell ringing acquired special names and became a symbol of impending disasters. With the emergence of nuclear weapons, the term “Tocsin” was adopted by the British Royal Observer Corps as a codeword prefix during Soviet nuclear trials observation in the Cold War.
Tocsin for piano, live video and electronics (2024) reflects on the current global political climate, the eruption of conflicts in different parts of the world, and the alarming rise of hatred and violence that humanity faces today.
The piece includes fragments of President John F. Kennedy’s radio and television address to the nation regarding the former Soviet Union’s military presence in Cuba in 1962.
I am also grateful to Amy Hamburg for her help with recording the sounds of the IU Metz Carillon, which are incorporated into the electronics part of the piece.