Apparitions of the Four Pillars
2009 to present
Apparitions of The Four Pillars is the realization of a multitude of profound influences on my work and modes of thinking. My ultimate goal with my work is to create a fully enveloping meditative experience that allows the listener to transcend time and place and be fully in the performance. Apparitions of The Four Pillars, springing from the vast and powerful tradition pioneered by my teacher and mentor La Monte Young, is by far my most radical work, and comes as close as anything I’ve written to achieving this goal.
The work itself is made up of the simplest of building blocks. Pure Just Intonation Intervals, Related prime-harmonic sine waves, and the core instrument of the Just Intonation Toy Organ. Versions of Apparitions of The Four Pillars are given lengthy descriptive titles that specify the actual primes used and any relevant structural information.
The pieces included under the Apparitions heading can all be considered as subsects of the larger work, and thus, unlike Doleo Æternus, there is no single piece that encompasses all of what The Four Pillars can be.
Read a deep analysis of the motives and theories behind the work: Randy Gibson On Apparitons of The Four Pillars.
All performances of Apparitions of The Four Pillars are accompanied by a video by Oscar Henriquez.
The Four Pillars family of Works
The Third Pillar in Primal Imperfect Palindrome with The Souvenir of The Second Pillar, The Floating Cirrus over the Pumping Slush, and The Highest Moving Chordal Motif
World Premiere February 18th, 2012, NYC
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The First Pillar Appearing in Palindrome with The Harbinger of The Second Pillar under the 27/28 Triple Primal Region
World Premiere December 19th, 2011, NYC
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Circular Trance Surrounding The Second Pillar with The Highest Seventh Primal Cirrus, The Utmost Fundamental, and The Ekmeles Ending from Apparitions Of The Four Pillars
World Premiere November 18th, 2011, NYC
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Apparitions of The Four Pillars with Their Lowest Additive Primes as limited to the 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 11th New Primes chosen Cyclically, The Toll of Premonition, The Memorial Connector over the Outlying Primal Abyss, and The Mid-Winter Ending
World Premiere February 11th, 2011, NYC
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The Third Pillar with its Lowest Primes, The Analog TwentyFour Truckera, and The Ersatz Souvenir of The Second Pillar with The Madora Cornerstone and The Outlying Primal Abyss from Apparitions of The Four Pillars
World Premiere December 9th, 2010, London
This work was funded in part by the Composer Assistance Program of the American Music Center.
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Analog Apparitons: The First Analog Pillar with its Simplest Primes and The Harbinger of The Second Pillar with The Low Madora Cornerstone and The Outlying Primal Cirrus from Apparitions of The Four Pillars and The Third Analog Pillar with its Lowest Primes and The Ersatz Souvenir of The Second Pillar with The High Madora Cornerstone and The Outlying Primal Abyss from Apparitions of The Four Pillars
Released on The Tapeworm label October 1, 2010
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The Third Pillar with its Lowest Primes and Memories of The Second Pillar from Apparitions of The Four Pillars
Released on the limited edition Voices + Sine Waves, May 4, 2010
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Apparitions of The Four Pillars with Their Lowest Primes, The Premonition of The Second Rung, and The Third Rung Connector
World Premiere February 19, 2010, NYC
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