Budapest Scoring Orchestra & Matthew Sheeran - Easley Blackwood: Acoustic Microtonal (2024) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Honoring the one-year anniversary of Chicago-based microtonal composer Easley Blackwood, Jr.’s death, Cedille Records releases Acoustic Microtonal, a new and unconventional acoustic presentation of Blackwood’s Twelve Microtonal Etudes for Electronic Music Media, Op 28, arranged by Grammy-nominated composer and orchestrator Matthew Sheeran.

A student of Boulanger, Hindemith, and Messiaen, and a music professor at the University of Chicago, Blackwood (April 21, 1933–January 22, 2023) was an American composer, pianist, and music theorist regarded as a pioneering figure in the exploration and advancement of microtonal music.

His monumental work, Twelve Microtonal Etudes for Electronic Music Media, marked the culmination of Blackwood’s research into the techniques of dividing the octave into more than 12 equal parts. Blackwood wrote each of his 12 Etudes using tunings of 13 to 24 notes per octave, with each tuning resulting in its own musical form and style.

Blackwood recorded the Etudes on a polyfusion synthesizer in 1980. He noted in the preface to his score, “execution by conventional acoustic instruments is not advised,” but in the years since there have been unprecedented advances in music technology.

To create the acoustic versions, Matthew Sheeran deciphered the original score — which comprises 180 unique pitches overall — and arranged 12-note versions of the Etudes by approximating the musical logic and sound of each. Musicians from the Budapest Scoring Orchestra performed the new parts on acoustic instruments, which Sheeran recorded and microtonally re-tuned using the latest music software (Celemony/Melodyne), bringing a new level of realism to the Etudes.

Sheeran (b. 1989) has a broad and in-depth knowledge of and a wide interest in music of all genres. He studied music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the University of Sussex, and composition at King’s College London. His music has been performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey.

Cedille has released 14 recordings featuring Blackwood’s works, including Easley Blackwood: Microtonal (1994), featuring a reissue of Blackwood’s original, 1980 synthesizer recording of the Twelve Microtonal Etudes, plus later Blackwood microtonal works including his 1987 Suite for Guitar in 15-note Equal Tuning, Op. 33.

Acoustic Microtonal was produced by Matthew Sheeran and mixed by Brian Bolger. It was recorded in Budapest 2021–2022 at Rottenbiller Studios, Tom-Tom Studio A, and Pannónia Sound Systems.

Tracklist:
01. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 16 notes. Andantino
02. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 18 notes. Allegro volando
03. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 21 notes. Suite in four mvts.
04. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 23 notes. Allegro moderato
05. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 13 notes. Sostenuto
06. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 15 notes. Lento
07. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 17 notes. Con moto
08. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 22 notes. Andante ma non troppo
09. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 24 notes. Moderato
10. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 14 notes. Allegramente
11. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 20 notes. Comodo
12. Twelve Microtonal Etudes, Op. 28 arranged for acoustic instruments: 19 notes. Allegro moderato


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