Chennai Mathematical Institute

Seminars




3:30 p.m.
Harmonic Tension

Prof David Claman

24-10-12


Abstract

The use of harmony may be Western music's most distinguishing characteristic. And yet the system of harmony is neither monolithic nor static, having changed extensively over nearly 1000 years. This presentation will trace the historical development of harmony from the Middle Ages until today, by listening to and discussing music by some of the greater and lesser known masters of this art.

About the speaker:

David Claman holds degrees from Wesleyan University where he studied the music of South India, from the University of Colorado, and from Princeton where he completed his Ph.D. in music composition in 2002. He studied Carnatic music with T. Viswanathan, T. Ranganathan, and K.S. Subramanian. His principal composition teachers have been Steve Mackey, Paul Lansky, and John McDonald. He is an assistant professor at Lehman College-City University of New York in The Bronx. He received a fellowship from The American Institute of Indian Studies in 1998 and has held residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy. He has received commissions from The American Composers Forum, Tara Helen O'Connor, The Cygnus Ensemble, Noa Even, Christopher Creviston and Oren Fader, Dither Electric Guitar Quartet, and Tufts University. Recordings can be found on the Innova, Capstone, Bridge, and Vox Novus labels. He was recently awarded a Fromm Foundation Commissioning Grant from Harvard University. Website and contact: http://www.davidclaman.com/