White Heron Dance
(2017) — For fixed audio media, w optional video by Tom Barratt, and optional live dance by Mayo Miwa
Duration 14:08
Computer music, with the sounds of herons, hawks, eagles, songbirds, frogs, crickets, and a voice singing in Japanese.
The River of Memory
(2008) — For Trombone and Computer Music
Duration 12:00
Commissioned by trombonist Monique Buzzarté through the Soloist Champions project of Meet the Composer, funded by a commission/grant from the New York State Music Fund.
Click here for program notes.
Kyrielle
(2005) — For Violin and Tape
Duration 12:00
Azure
(2003) — For Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Computer Music on Tape
Duration 10:00
Composed in Todi raga, with a metrical cycle of twelve beats. Polyphonic.
Mioritza — Requiem for Rachel Corrie
(2003) — For Trombone and Computer Music on Tape
Duration 12:00
Composed in memory of Rachel Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death March 16, 2003 by an Israeli forces bulldozer as she stood before it trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home in the southern Gaza strip.
Click here for program notes.
The Mud Oratorio
(2003) — Choreographic title, "Stirrings"
Duration 51:00
Computer music for modern dance. Commissioned by Dance Alloy (Pittsburgh) and Frostburg State University (MD), with support from Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour.
Shields' electronically-manipulated voice, with sounds from two Maryland swamps maintained by the Nature Conservancy, and a local biologist's imitations of swamp-birds, frogs and toads. Libretto based on Stirring the Mud by Barbara Hurd, a collection of essays on swamps and the human imagination.
Gallery of production photos
Shenandoah
(2002) — Choreographic title, "In This Valley"
Duration 24:35
Computer music on CD for modern dance, based on oral histories of recent immigrants to the Shenandoah Valley, with rhythms from India and the Middle East and words in different languages (Mixteca, Spanish, Woloff, Russian, Ukranian, Vietnamese, Arabic).
Listen to an excerpt
Download the album containing this work at iTunes
Shenandoah (Concert Version)
(2002) — Computer Music
Duration 12:30
The short concert version of Alice Shields' computer piece Shenandoah was premiered at Electronic Music and the Voice, a concert-seminar which took place at SITE Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 25, 2002, produced by the Santa Fe Opera and SITE Santa Fe.
Dust
(2001)
Duration 30:41
Computer music on CD for modern dance, composed in Hindustani Madhuwanti raga and Todi raga, with traditional Bharata Natyam jethi-s (South Indian rhythmic sequences).
Listen to an excerpt
View a video clip of Dance Alloy's choreographic production of Dust
Download the album containing this work at iTunes
Dust : Concert Version
(2002)
Duration 12:00
Computer music on CD. Concert version of longer choreographed work.
Listen to an excerpt
View a video clip of Dance Alloy's choreographic production of Dust
Vegetable Karma
(1999)
Duration 14:30
Computer music on CD, composed in Hindustani Todi raga, with sounds sampled from hiphop.
Listen to an excerpt
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It's Haunted Here, Fragile Breakfast, & Sparkling Brains
(1995-95)
Duration 13:00
Multimedia on disk, for computer monitor playback. Poems and computer graphics by Shields, created on Macromedia Director and KPT Bryce software.
Red Woman ("An Bean Rua")
(1993)
Duration 10:00
for Live Female Narrator & Electronic Music on Tape
The live actor speaks in English, while Shields' recorded voice speaks in Irish on tape. Poem in Irish and English by Shields, describing a man and a woman making love on the day of the Winter Solstice.
Snow
(1993)
Duration 7:00
for Live Male Narrator & Electronic Music on Tape
The live narrator speaks of a homeless man frozen to death in the snow, while electronic music plays on tape. On the poem "Snow," by Greg Muirhead.
The Black Lake
(1984)
Duration 9:00
for Tenor, Cello & Electronic Music on Tape
Text by Edward Barrett, in which a shaman wanders through the sounds of the night. From the opera Shaman.
Coyote
(1980)
Duration 13:00
Electronic music on tape: wolf-calls, coyotes, and manipulated human voices. From the opera Shaman.
Bicycle Music
(1977)
Duration 25:00
Electronic music score for film on sculptor Helene Brandt, using the sounds of Brandt's bicycle sculptures.
Farewell to a Hill
(1975)
Duration 9:00
Electronic music on tape: bells, ducks, and electronic sounds.
The Transformation of Ani
(1970)
Duration 9:00
Electronic music on tape: Shields' recorded voice chants and sings from the Egyptian Book of the Dead as the dying soul of the scribe Ani, chanting the words of his own resurrection.
Information about the recording
Click to hear Alice Shields talk about her work,"The Transformation of Ani"
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Dance Piece No.3
(1969)
Duration 5:46
Electronic music on tape for modern dance. Commissioned by the Mimi Garrard Dance Theatre.
Information about the recording
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Study for Voice and Tape
(1968)
Duration 5:17
Electronic music on tape: Shields' pre-recorded singing voice, with poem by Shields on sunbathing.
Information about the recording
Download this work at iTunes
