Julie Herndon // When the Machine Rhymes with my Body // Kukuruz Quartet

Details

Description

from the album, Breathing – Remembering – Dissolving (2023)
for piano quartet

A body synchronizes different senses of time. The biorhythms of breath and pulse combine to create longform shared tempos of an hour or a week. A musical instrument also embodies time in the vibrations of a string, the movement of a hand to excite, the resonance and decay that combine to create melody and timbre. In this piece, human biorhythms are played through the instruments. Players attune to the tempo of their heartbeat. They join a group tempo and play canons based on the duration of their breath. Each pulse played on the keys trigger hammers on strings like fingers tapping on mechanical fingers. The piece moves through these internal and collective senses of time, connecting the machine to the body that plays it.

Recorded at Stanford University, March 2022
Mixed and Mastered by Zach Miley