Larry Polansky: Four-Voice Canons

CB0011

Larry Polansky

Four-voice canons


Four-voice canons 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9b, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18


Featuring performances by and collaborations with

William Winant, Jody Diamond, Daniel Goode, York Vocal Index, Ray Guillette,

Nick Didkovsky, Nathan Davis, Anna Diamond Polansky, and others


  1. #4 (1978-79) (4:48)

William Winant, marimba

Recorded, edited, mixed, and digitally remastered by Tom Erbe, 1983/89,

Mills College Center for Contemporary Music, Oakland, CA.


  1. #7 (1990) (6:11)

Jody Diamond, gamelan

Commissioned by Gamelan Son of Lion.

Gamelan Lipur Sih built by Tentrem Sarwanto,

Surakarta, Java, Indonesia.

Recorded, edited, and mixed by Miriam Kolar, June-August 2002,

Brittrax, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, and Los Angeles, CA.


  1. #17 (2002) Guitar Canon (4:19)

Larry Polansky, fretless electric guitar

Fretless electric guitar built by Steve Marchione.

Recorded, edited, and mixed by Miriam Kolar with Larry Polansky, June-August 2002, Brittrax, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.


  1. #9b (6:7:8:9) (1994) Anna Canon (4:04)

Anna Diamond Polansky (age three), voice

Larry Polansky, computer (software: HMSL, SoundHack, Csound)

Realized at the Bregman Electronic Music Studio, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.


  1. #14 (2002) Kid Canon (1:37)

Anna Diamond Polansky, Eliza Polli, Meghan Gallagher, Hester Godfrey, Nick Sinnott-Armstrong, Saskia Nislow, Katie Lenhart, voices

Recorded, edited, and mixed by Miriam Kolar with Larry Polansky, June-August 2002, Brittrax, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, and Los Angeles, CA.


  1. #16 (2002) Canon in One Octave for Arthur Farwell (2:01)

Larry Polansky, computer

Realized at the Bregman Electronic Music Studio, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.


  1. #12 (2000) Doggerel (from 3 New Hampshire Songs) (1:59)

Text (abecedarius) from "The Shaker Manifesto, July 1882"

Performed by the York Vocal Index: William Brooks,

David Fletcher, Quintilla Hughes, Edward Jessen,

Stephen Johnson, Rachael Parsons, John Potter, Mark Swinton, Katharine Taylor,

Jonathan Upfold, Helen Vasey, Angela Voyajolu.

John Potter and William Brooks, directors.

Recorded, edited, and mixed by John Williams, June 22, 2002, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, England.


  1. #10 (1997) Four Boys Mannin' (1:05)

Larry Polansky, computer manipulation of Chris Mann's voice

Text by Chris Mann. (Used by permission.)

Recorded and realized by Larry Polansky, Melbourne, Australia, and Hanover, NH, 1996/97.


  1. #13 (2001) DIY Canon (3:15)

Realization by Daniel Goode: Java 2 (2002)

Daniel Goode, tape (source: midtown Manhattan restaurant)

Recorded, edited, and mixed by Daniel Goode (with Larry Polansky), March 2002, New York, NY, and Hanover, NH.


  1. #5 (1983) (3:56)

William Winant, percussion

Recorded, edited, and mixed by Larry Polansky with Richard Povall, 1983, Mills College Center for Contemporary Music, Oakland, CA. Digitally remastered by Tom Erbe, 1989.


  1. #6 (1986) ( 3:24)

Larry Polansky, computer (software/hardware: HMSL prototype)

Anthony Braxton (baritone saxophone), Jody Diamond (Javanese rebab), Mills College Frog Pond frogs, Kurzweil sampler sine wave. Performances, except those of the frogs, used by permission.

Realized by Larry Polansky 1986, Mills College Center for Contemporary Music, Oakland, CA.


  1. #8 (1992) Nerve Canon (8:52)

Larry Polansky and Ray Guillette (co-composers), computer (software: HMSL, SoundHack, TurboSynth, Mutator)

Sound sources from Nick Didkovsky's Nerve Events. (Used by permission.)

Realized by Larry Polansky and Ray Guillette, 1982, Bregman Electronic Music Studio, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH.


  1. #13 (2001) DIY Canon (5:00)

Realization by Nick Didkovsky: Headphone Canon for Ross Hendler (2002)

Nick Didkovsky, computer (software: JMSL and Jsyn)

Realized by Nick Didkovsky, May 2002, Hanover, NH, and

New York, NY. (Note: this piece makes use of the Deutsch

octave illusion, which is best revealed on headphones.)


  1. #13 (2001) DIY Canon (3:03)

Realization by Nathan Davis: On Skin, Wood, Metal, and Stone (2002)

Nathan Davis, percussion

Recorded, edited, and mixed by Nathan Davis and Miriam Kolar,

May-August 2002, Boston, MA, and Los Angeles, CA.


  1. #18 (2002) Trio Canon for Christian Wolff (5:05)

Larry Polansky, fretless electric guitar

Ha-Yang Kim, cello

Nathan Davis, percussion

Recorded, edited, and mixed by Miriam Kolar, June-August 2002, Brittrax, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, and Los Angeles, CA.


All the pieces on this disc are mensuration canons of four or more voices. In these canons, each successively entering voice moves proportionally faster than the previous one, causing each canon's density and rhythmic complexity to increase from beginning to end.


row row row your boat gently down the stream

row row row your boat gently down the stream

row row row your boat gently down the stream

row row row your boat gently down the stream



CD produced by Larry Polansky, Jim Fox, and Miriam Kolar.

Thanks to Jody Diamond for additional production assistance.

All compositions copyright Larry Polansky (BMI), except Java 2© 2002 Daniel Goode, Headphone Canon for Ross Hendler© 2002 Nick Didkovsky, and On Skin, Wood, Metal, and Stone© 2002 Nathan Davis.


CD © and P 2002 Cold Blue Music. All rights reserved.


Mastered by Kevin Gray, AcousTech, Camarillo, CA.

Cover design by Jim Fox (cover photo: photographer unknown; farm photo: Larry Polansky).


Cold Blue Music, P.O. Box 2938, Venice, CA 90294-2938 www.coldbluemusic.com