The title Isolario: Book of Known Islands alludes to the catalogues of islands created by Venetian mapmakers such as Vincenzo Coronelli (17th century) and his predecessor Benedetto Bordone, whose 16th-century atlas portrayed all the known islands of his era, including some early representations of Japan and the Caribbean.

My aim is to create a sketchbook atlas in this spirit, a musical travelogue, composed of “isolated” movements of 2-3 minutes, each representing an island (on which, in theory, I’ve spent a little time). Memories and experiences associated with each place are evoked: a December ferry ride over a snow-still Lake Van, a scrim of relentless Atlantic rain off of Western Ireland, the Easter ritual of throwing dynamite on a Greek island, the atmosphere of romance and chaos of the quais on the Seine in summer…

Each movement has not only a unique musical character but also its particular set of electronics tools: real-time effects, field recordings, pitched resonators, physical modeling synthesis, stretched and returned pre-recorded phrases. Isolario is envisioned as an ongoing project of changing dimensions. Further movements will certainly be added, ultimately creating a large pool of miniatures which can be reordered or excerpted for varied performances.

The six movements here represent a first “book” assembled for the premiere, performed by Quatuor Béla with electronics by GRAME (Max Bruckert, Computer Music Design) on 30 September 2015 at the MC2 in Grenoble, France.