Michael Torke: Unseen East Coast Chamber Orchestra meets Michael Torke Orchestra

• Michael Torke (b. 1961): UNSEEN:
• 1 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 1 05:33
• 2 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 2 04:41
• 3 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 3 04:54
• 4 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 4 04:25
• 5 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 5 05:40
• 6 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 6 04:02
• 7 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 7 06:14
• 8 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 8 04:54
• 9 Torke: UNSEEN: No. 9 04:26
• Total Runtime 44:49

Info for Michael Torke: Unseen

UNSEEN (2024) is the fourth composition and recording that completes a tetralogy of work; BEING (2020), PSALMS AND CANTICLES (2021), and TIME (2022) have preceded it.

Unifying these four projects is the use of syncopated rhythms caused by the intersection of 3’s against 2’s, which through their interlocking, creates a unified rhythmic effect, or groove. Melodies and harmonies flow from the rhythms used.

What sets UNSEEN apart from the other three is the size of the group: a full orchestra. I brought together musicians I’ve worked with in New York with the strings of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra. The scope is larger and the color possibilities more varied when writing for orchestra, compared to chamber groups. Colossal timbres can be achieved with a full brass section, woodwinds in pairs can provide scintillating pinpoints of light, and a full string section gives a sheen of richness (through the accumulation of minute pitch variation) as well as the particularity of unified bow strokes.

The title, UNSEEN, comes from the Nicene Creed “…creator of all things, seen and unseen.” We are a visual people—we take in the world primarily through our eyes. But what we value the most are things that can’t be seen: feelings, ideas, energy, accomplishment, memories, contentment.

What I seek in these four projects is a way for music to take us outside of ourselves. If through its rhythms and harmonies we give up a literal grip on the now, such experience opens the potential of renewal and even a kind of cleansing joy.

East Coast Chamber Orchestra
Michael Torke Orchestra
Michael Torke, musical director

Michael Torke
Michael's music has been commissioned by such orchestras as The Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Symphony; by such ballet companies as New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey, and the National Ballet of Canada; by such opera companies as the Metropolitan Opera, Théâtre du Châtelet, and the English National Opera; by such large ensembles as the London Sinfonietta, Lontano, and De Volharding; and such small ensembles as the Smith, Ying, and Amstel Quartets.

He has worked with such conductors as Simon Rattle, Kurt Mazur, Edo de Waart, and David Zinman; such choreographers as Christopher Wheeldon, James Kudelka, and Juri Kilian; and collaborated with such librettists as A. R. Gurney, Michael Korie, and Mark Campbell; and such directors as Des McAnuff, Bart Sher, and Michael Greif.

He has been commissioned by entities such as the Walt Disney Company, and Absolute Vodka; worked with such soloists as Tessa Lark, Christopher O'Reilly, and Joyce Castle; and written incidental music to such companies as The Public Theater, The Old Globe Theater, and Classic Stage Company; and been composer in residence with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Beginning his career with exclusive contracts with Boosey and Hawkes, and Decca Records, he now controls his own copyrights and masters through his publishing company, Adjustable Music, and record company, Ecstatic Records.

His music has been called "some of the most optimistic, joyful and thoroughly uplifting music to appear in recent years" (Gramophone). Hailed as a "vitally inventive composer" (Financial Times) and "a master orchestrator whose shimmering timbral palette makes him the Ravel of his generation" (New York Times), Torke has created a substantial body of works in virtually every genre.

A recent work, SKY, written for violinist Tessa Lark, was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize, and was nominated for a Grammy for best classical instrument solo.

This album contains no booklet.