Brian Belet

Stellar Nebulae

String orchestra.

I. Emergence

II. Contemplation

III. Expansion

Published on Prisma, Vol. 4. Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, Michalis Economou, conductor. Navona Records (PARMA Recordings) NV6298, 2020.

Score published (open access & free for viewing) by the UCLA Music Library (Contemporary Music Score Collection), 2020.

REVIEW:

Stellar Nebulae ... is an example of how the composer tends to seek formal abstraction. Belet’s melodies are like paths of hope that pour us into the deep valleys of our thoughts.

-- Josep Bosch, Sonograma Magazine. September 29, 2020

Sufficient Trouble

Album containing ten B. Belet computer-music compositions. Ravello Records (PARMA Recordings)

RR7969, 2017.

Composition track list:

Lyra (2002)

Violin & Kyma

Patricia Strange, violin

Still Harmless [BASS]ically (2000)

Electric Bass & Kyma

Brian Belet, electric bass

Name Droppings (2008)

Voices & Kyma

difference (no doubt it queues) (1997)

Computer-processed Voice

an abstract (difference (queues)) (1997)

Computer-processed Voice

(Disturbed) Radiance (2003)

Piano & Kyma

Janis Mercer, piano

System of Shadows (2007)

Trumpet, Flugelhorn & Kyma

Stephen Ruppenthal, C trumpet & Bb flugelhorn

I. Aurora Borealis

II. Andromeda’s Dream

III. Zephyr Apparition

Sea Lion Mix (2009)

Sea Lions, Voices, & Kyma

Summer Phantoms: Nocturne (2011)

Piano & Kyma

Keith Kirchoff, piano

Remembering Allen (2008)

Voice & Kyma

Brian Belet, voice

ALBUM REVIEW:

SUFFICIENT TROUBLE offers a degree of variety in timbre and musical content that is sometimes lacking in electronic music. In Lyra, the album’s opening track, Belet establishes an aural world in which the organic material and electronic content merge seamlessly, clearly defining the musical language to come as the album progresses.

A sense of musical humor and clear intent runs throughout Belet’s work, and one quickly concludes that the composer, while wonderfully fluent and virtuosic in his chosen medium, is not at all above poking fun at tradition. Name Droppings, assembled from fragments of spoken text, is crafted solely using quotations from program notes and biographies the composer encountered while attending concerts. The resulting piece, with narrative thrusts provided by unexpected textual content, succeeds as both a strong composition and humorous commentary on the concert going experience.

While Belet proves adept throughout this release at crafting strongly evocative electronic materials, his writing for acoustic instruments also shines through in the works that draw from mixed disciplines. In various pieces, strings, brass, and the piano all interact with electronic materials, often leading to shimmering textural content. By often utilizing responsive electronics and real time controls, as in (Disturbed) Radiance and Still Harmless [BASS]ically, Belet allows for the ‘performance’ element to remain a crucial, and often defining aspect, of these selections. Still Harmless [BASS]ically presents the electric bass in an electronic environment for which it is aptly suited. Harmonics and wide-ranging bass flourishes weave in and out of responsive electronic surroundings, creating an atmospheric palette that is at once intriguing and impressively emotive.

Remembering Allen, the final track on SUFFICIENT TROUBLE, is an audio miniature paying glowing tribute to the late Allen Strange, and, as the album’s final statement, reiterates Belet’s strong grasp of the emotive depths of which electronic music is capable.

- PARMA Recordings (Ravello Records website)

System of Shadows

Trumpet & flugelhorn, and Kyma processing.

I. Aurora Borealis

II. Andromeda's Dream

III. Zephyr Apparition

-- Published on Flamethrower, Stephen Ruppenthal, trumpet & flugelhorn. Ravello Records, (PARMA Recordings) RR7954, 2017.

-- Also published on Sufficient Trouble, 2017 (see above).

Album REVIEW (excerpt):

The title of Misty Magic Land [composed by Allen Strange] reflects its sounds; chimes and high-end timbres create a mystical and mysterious atmosphere for Ruppenthal’s trumpets to explore. Brian Belet also appears on the track as producer and overseer of digital audio processing. He returns to these roles for his composition System of Shadows at the end of the album.

Speaking of FLAMETHROWER’s concluding track, System of Shadows returns to the frenzied, impassioned nature of the album’s opener, processing a Bitches Brew-inspired core with shimmering reconstruction achieved in tandem with the Kyma system processing. Quick loops sizzle under the surface long after Ruppenthal has released the notes from his trumpet, resulting in a hypnotic effect unlike anything else on the album. The hum of the lingering trumpet is a cathartic end to an innovative journey.

- PARMA Recordings (Ravello Records website)

CD cover: Flamethrower, Stephen Ruppenthal, trumpet.

Earlier Publications

Lyra

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

Roundabout: Four Canons and Something Else

Violin and Kyma

-- Published on Ghost Strings, Patricia Strange, violin. IMG Media, CD-02-01, 2006.

-- Also published on Sufficient Trouble, 2017

(see above).

Roundabout: Four Canons and Something Else

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

Roundabout: Four Canons and Something Else

Percussion ensemble (9 performers)
Score published by Warner Brothers Publications / Belwin-Mills Publishing Corp., 2002.

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

Computer-processed voice (Chris Mann)
-- Published on The Frog Peak Collaborations Project, a double audio CD international compilation of 115 short compositions based on an audio reading by Australian sound poet Chris Mann,

Frog Peak Music, FP007, 1998.

-- Also published on Sufficient Trouble,

2017 (see above).

[MUTE]ation

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

Computer-processed trombone mute sounds
-- Published on Music from the Center for Research in Electro-Acoustic Music, Consortium to Distribute Computer Music CD series, Volume 26, Centaur Records, CRC 2404, 1998.

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections

Trombone Quartet, 1992.

Score published by the International Trombone Association Press (distributed by Warwick Music), 1997.

Four Proportional Preludes

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections

CD cover: Society of Composers, Inc. compilation.

Piano.

-- Published on SCI CD No. 11: Chamber Works, Janis Mercer, piano. Capstone Records, CPS-8651, 1998.
-- Score published in SCI Journal of Music Scores, Vol. 24, European American Music/C.F. Peters, 1998.

Music Publications

Fantasia: Nocturne

Fantasia: Nocturne

Three by Five

Three by Five

Stellar Nebulae

Stellar Nebulae

Drei Kinderstücke

Drei Kinderstücke

Drei Kinderstücke

Drei Kinderstücke

Drei Kinderstücke

Drei Kinderstücke

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim: Three Piano Preludes

Sufficient Trouble

Sufficient Trouble

System of Shadows

System of Shadows

Summer Phantoms: Nocturne

Summer Phantoms: Nocturne

Summer Phantoms: Nocturne

Summer Phantoms: Nocturne

Summer Phantoms: Nocturne

Summer Phantoms: Nocturne

Name Droppings

Name Droppings

Earlier Publications

Lyra

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

Roundabout: Four Canons and Something Else

Roundabout: Four Canons and Something Else

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

Roundabout: Four Canons and Something Else

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

[MUTE]ation

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections

difference (no doubt it queues) -and- an abstract (difference (queues))

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections

Four Proportional Preludes

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections

Refraction: Three Gestural Reflections