The first collaboration between the GRM and new label-partner Shelter Press, continuing the
Portraits GRM record series which
Peter Rehberg of
Editions MEGO set the foundation for in 2012, Living Torch, through its unique structural form and harmonic material, is a bold continuation of Kali Malone's demanding and exciting body of work, while opening new perspectives and increasing the emotional potential of the music tenfold. As such, Living Torch is a major new piece by the composer and adds a significant milestone to an already fascinating repertoire.
Departing from the pipe organ that Malone's music is most notable for, Living Torch features a complex electroacoustic ensemble. Leafing through recordings from conventional instruments like the trombone and bass clarinet to more experimental machines like the boîte à bourdon, passing through sinewave generators and
Éliane Radigue's ARP 2500 synthesizer, Living Torch weaves its own history, its own genealogy, and that of its author. It extends her robust structural approach to a liberated palette of timbre.
Living Torch was initially commissioned by GRM for its legendary loudspeaker orchestra, the Acousmonium, and premiered in its complete multichannel form at the Grand Auditorium of Radio France in a concert entirely dedicated to the artist.
Composed at GRM studios in Paris between 2020-2021, Living Torch is a work of great intensity, an oeuvre-monde that is singularly placed at the crossroads of instrumental writing and electroacoustic composition. Living Torch proceeds from multiple lineages, including early modern music, American minimalism, and musique concrète. It's a work as much turned towards exploring justly tuned harmony and canonic structures as towards the polyphony of unique timbres, the scaling of dynamic range, and the revelation of sound qualities.
GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales), the pioneering institution of electroacoustic, acousmatic, and musique concrète, has been a unique laboratory for sonorous research since 1958. Witnessing the extreme vitality of the music championed by GRM, the Portraits GRM record series extends and expands this momentum with Kali Malone's Living Torch.
Composed & produced by Kali Malone at INA GRM 2020-2021.
Trombone & Bass Clarinet recorded at EMS Elektronmusikstudion 2020.
Pre-mastered by Emmanuel Richier at INA GRM.
Mastered by
Stephan Mathieu at Schwebung Mastering.
Cut by Andreas Kauffelt at Schnittstelle, Berlin.
Photograph by
Estelle Hanania.
Painting by Ross Caliendo.
Sleeve design by
Stephen O'Malley.
Trombone: Mats Äleklint.
Bass Clarinet: Isak Hedtjärn.
ARP 2500, Modular Synthesis, Pura Data & Boîte à Bourdons: Kali Malone.
Kali Malone (born 1994 in Colorado) is an American composer and musician based in Stockholm. Her compositions implement specific tuning systems in minimalist structure for pipe organ, choir, chamber music ensembles, and electroacoustic formats. Malone's music is rich with harmonic texture through synthetic and acoustic instrumentation in repetitive motions and extended durations. The music emits distinct emotive, dynamic, and affective hues which bring forth a stunning depth of focus.
Kali Malone has performed extensively in Europe and North America at Musica Festival, Berlin Atonal, Moogfest, Kanal Pompidou, Elbphilharmonie, Paris Philharmonie, and Radio France. Her commission projects and residencies include the Ina GRM, Berlin Monom, The Richard Thomas Foundation, MACBA, Macadam Ensemble, Orgelpark, Elektronmusikstudion and Tempo Reale. She collaborates and performs with various artists, including
Stephen O'Malley,
Lucy Railton, Frederikke Hoffmeier, Leila Bordreuil, Drew McDowall,
Caterina Barbieri, and Ellen Arkbro. In 2016 she co-founded the record label and concert series
XKatedral, together with Maria W. Horn, in Stockholm.
