Tag Archives: compositions

Sometimes to Destroy, One Must First Create Part 1 (2014) for Mobius Trio

Sometimes to Destroy, One Must First Create Part 1 (2014) 9 min.
for three electric guitars. Composed by Nick Vasallo.

Performed at Cal Poly Pomona Recital Hall, March 14, 2014.
Audio recorded by William Wright-Hooks.
Video Directed by Gabriel Zuniga.

Performed by Mobius Trio
Robert Nance, Mason Fish, and Matthew Holmes-Linder.

Program Notes
Composed from January 30th-February 2nd 2014. In this piece I wanted to dissect and destroy recent motifs that have appeared in my writing.

Dark Matter I. Time Began with an Explosion (2010) for Mobius Trio

Dark Matter
I. Time Began with an Explosion (2010)
 5 min.
for three electric guitars.

Performed at Cal Poly Pomona Recital Hall, March 14, 2014.
Audio recorded by William Wright-Hooks.
Video Directed by Gabriel Zuniga.

Performed by Mobius Trio
Robert Nance, Mason Fish, and Matthew Holmes-Linder.

Program Notes
The birth of the universe. Dark matter is undetectable, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter. I thought of writing this piece when I learned the Japanese concept of ma, which means “the silence between the sounds.”

ELEMENTS OF METAL: I. Collapsing Obsidian Sun (2009) for string quartet

ELEMENTS OF METAL: I. Collapsing Obsidian Sun (2009) 7 min.
for string quartet

Performed by Friction Quartet
Kevin Rogers – violin
Otis Harriel – violin
Clio Tilton – viola
Doug Machiz – cello

Filmed and edited by Taylor Rankin.
Audio recording by Zach Miley.

Recorded at San Francisco Conservatory of Music September 1, 2013.

Program Notes:
Coming from a Metal background I tend to gravitate towards aural effects that evoke the same sensations I feel when listening to it. I knew that the three string players that were going to perform this piece are virtuosos and this is what inspired me to write something that “shreds.” At the same time, I wanted to pay tribute to the three Metal bands that I am closest to: Antagony, All Shall Perish and Hacksaw to the Throat. I found three distinct musical trademarks from each band and used recombinant techniques to form the piece. The title comes from the opening lines to Hacksaw to the Throat’s “Cascading Down.” I listened to the song repeatedly when I composed “Collapsing Obsidian Sun,” and my friend (fellow UCSC graduate student [in Math] who composed it) even showed me how to play it on guitar. Its a musical setting to lyrics about what would happen to the Earth if the Sun became a supernova.

Pages from Vasallo - Elements of Metal p1

Elements of Metal (2009)
for string quartet
Full Score (Digital)
$70.00





ELEMENTS OF METAL: II. Omnes Perituri (2011) for string quartet

ELEMENTS OF METAL: II. Omnes Perituri (2011) 6 min.
for string quartet

Performed by Friction Quartet
Kevin Rogers – violin
Otis Harriel – violin
Clio Tilton – viola
Doug Machiz – cello

Filmed and edited by Taylor Rankin.
Audio recording by Zach Miley.
Recorded at San Francisco Conservatory of Music September 1, 2013.

Program Notes
I have never written a purely string ensemble or string quartet piece. Though after requests from the resident ensembles at SUNY and UCSC I began to hear the same requests: “Make it fun to play and Metal.” Knowing that I was in Death Metal band since a teenager and all of my music in some sense has strong Metal aesthetics, they weren’t asking me to go out on a limb. My goal with this piece was to satisfy their requests but also create a work that was challenging to listen to (despite it not being technically demanding). “Omnes Perituri” translates to “All Shall Perish” – a prominent band in the extreme metal scene for whom this work was originally written.

Black Swan Events (2011) for electric guitar, drums, and orchestra

Black Swan Events (2011) 16 min.
Thrash Metal concerto for electric guitar and orchestra

*This piece has not yet been performed in public.

I. Allusions
II. Disorders of Sense and Motion
III. Nebulous
IV. Conquest and Reign

Directed by Brandon Hunt and Taylor Rankin.
Filmed at The Crowden Music Center in Berkeley, CA on August 17, 2013

Edited by Brandon Hunt (http://mediavandal.com).
Electric guitar cadenza was composed in collaboration with Victor Dods.
Produced and recorded by Nick Vasallo.
Mixed and mastered by Zack Ohren.

Performers:
Electric Guitar – Victor Dods
Drumset – Luis Martinez
Flute – Toni Chimienti
Oboe – Paul Perazzo*
Clarinet – Philip Halseth*, Beth Ratay
Bassoon – Robert Alfaro
Horn – Amberle Mitchell
Trumpet – Todd Minson
Bass Trombone – Israel Santiago*
Percussion – Taylor Rankin
Violin, Viola – Otis Harriel*, Nicholas Morales
Cello – Douglas Machiz*, Austin Graham
Bass – Aaron Shael
Conductor – David Waugh

*Not in video

PROGRAM NOTES
I seldom name a work before composing it but the discovery of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s concept of the “black swan” inspired me to structure the entire work around this central idea. Based upon Taleb’s criteria, a “black swan event” is a surprise to the observer, has a major impact, and is rationalized in hindsight – as if it could have been expected (e.g., the relevant data [was] available but not accounted for).

 One of my primary goals with Black Swan Events was to create an environment where two worlds collide and become one. I wanted to treat the appearance of Heavy Metal (“metal”) as a surprising event that has a major impact upon the structure of the work. By the end of Black Swan Events, the world of “metal” – represented by the electric guitar and drums –becomes so prevalent and enmeshed within the orchestra that its initial arrival, in hindsight, no longer seems surprising. The relationship between these two worlds – metal and western art music – transforms from instability to resolution and synthesis.

 Composers strive to find their own distinct voices and most of these composers, consciously or unconsciously, want their voices to ‘speak’ through their music. The unifying principle in Black Swan Events takes this idea literally. Using experimental software to analyze the spectrum of my extreme metal scream, I developed chords that modeled the scream’s spectrum. I wanted a conceptual relationship to exist between my voice and all of the musical materials in Black Swan Events so that every note is, conceptually, a remnant of my scream. Essentially, I used a spectral-matching orchestrational tool to duplicate the spectrum of my scream and with this solution I built a chord. The primary motivic materials of the piece were built from the collection abstracted from the original spectral data. I also collaborated heavily with Victor Dods, the original guitarist for this work, and incorporated his musical input into the collection of motifs. These motifs play an essential unifying role in Black Swan Events.

 While metal is the first and primary black swan event, the piece incorporates several others. I will demonstrate how polystylist and eclecticist philosophies interact in Black Swan Events to produce a highly pluralistic yet unified work, creating a music both alluding to and drawing upon the experience of other genres – born out of personal practice. References and allusions to Neurosis, George Crumb, J.S. Bach, Kanye West, Eddie Van Halen, Stravinksy, Ligeti, Beethoven, and spectralism abound in Black Swan Events. It is my intention to illustrate how my own style functions within the ongoing dialogue of these disparate sources of music.

op74 Dissertation cover_Page_01

Black Swan Events (2011)
for electric guitar, drums, and orchestra
Full Score (Digital)
$150.00


The Prophecy (2008, 2013) for SATB choir

The Prophecy (2008, 2013) 11 min.
for SATB, baritone, and organ.
Premiere: November 15, 2013 at Washington State University, Bryan Hall Theatre.

I. Judicabo Te
II. Et Non Parcet

Performed by
WSU Concert Choir with soloist Rodrigo Cortes and organist Juliana Witt

Conducted by Dr. Lori Wiest

Program Notes
A setting of two passages from The Book of Ezekiel (7:3-7:4). Here is a final message of doom upon the whole land; the judgment is inevitable and close at hand; social relations will be broken up; preparations will be of no avail; wealth misused for idolatry and luxury will become the spoil of the heathen; priests, prophets, king and nobles will be helpless to deliver; the Temple will be profaned, and the remnant shall be overwhelmed with sorrow. Each movement was composed 5 years apart.

I. Judicabo Te (2008)
Ezekiel 7:3 – Nunc finis super te, et immittam furorem meum in te: et judicabo te juxta vias tuas, et ponam contra te omnes abominationes tuas. “The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you: “I will judge you according to your ways, and bring all your abominations upon you.”

II. Et non parcet (2013)
Ezekiel 7:4 – Et non parcet oculus meus super te, et non miserebor: sed vias tuas ponam super te, et abominationes tuæ in medio tui erunt: et scietis quia ego Dominus. “I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. “‘Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

Pages from Nick Vasallo - The Prophecy 1

The Prophecy (2008, 2013)
for SATB, baritone, and organ
Full Score (Digital)
$54.00