Discography

Discography and Films

SORREL DORIS HAYS

Take a Back Country Road on DREAMING THE WORLD from New World Records CD 80520-2 (includes "Structure 123" , "Dreaming the World", and "Tunings")

"As the solos began to writhe, the chord changes got thicker and stranger, while the glissandos gelled into churning counterpoint as seamless as a Renaissance motet. The piece turned corners for half an hour, the plot thickening at every one, until finally splashes of swirling color came careening from who knows where. It was a brilliant solution, using the computer [DX-7 keyboard] to meld two improvisers, and it resulted in cumulative ecstasy." Village Voice

and on Townhall THCD-48 "Sorrel Doris Hays Plays Henry Cowell":

"She can hammer out clusters like a wild animal, play intricate passages with fine control, and sound like a Chopin specialist at other points." Village Voice

on Wergo 00846 "Riverrun", a two cd compilation of excerpts from Hoerspiel produced for Westdeustcher Rundfunk Cologne, are Hays's "Celebration of NO "and "Sound Shadows".

on Opus One cds :

"For your listening pleasure at home or in the car or jogging or standing on the street corner or at the beach, Tower Records has on cd Opus One 135 "Tone Over Tone" and "Soundbridge" Opus One 152, performed by Loretta Goldberg. Especially recommended is "90's, A Calendar Bracelet", in which composer Sorrel Hays uses the virtuoso techniques of romantic keyboard resonances coupled with MIDI triggered electronics to form a chain of Schumannesque-like lyrical vignettes." Sonora Sanchez

on Opus One CD135 Loretta Goldberg performing:

"Sorrel Hays's "Bits" , for piano, synthesizer tuned a quarter tone higher and drum machine, is an engaging piece, not without its melancholy moments..Libretto July 1990

and "The fragments of sound overlap, collide, echo, and then disappear." Robert Jurgrau in EAR Magazine, 1990.

on Finnadar/Atlantic 90266-1 SLEEPERS: (to be released on Townhall CD in 2001)

"The record begins with Hays's "Hush" for voice, sand block and reco-reco. The singer intones such evocative sounds as "sh", "shuh" "ush" and "Hush" against the instrumentalists' steady beat. ..the piece illustrates the lulling effec of such syllables combined with a repeated rhythm." Fanfare Sept./Oct. 1985

on Smithsonian Folkways FTS37476, VOICINGS:

Hays has produced a brilliant recording..Technically as well as musically, this is absorbing. The highlight is "Southern Voices for Tape". Hays explores the musical origins, shapes, customs, and patterns of speech of Southern folks and their kinship and folklore. She weaves and layers these voices among the "homey and apparent" evocations of Sacred Harp singing, Old Time fiddling, auctioneering chant, and children's hand clapping. Dr. Elizabeth Wood in ILWC Journal Fall 1983

on Finnadar/Atlantic "Adoration of the Clash" SR9021(to be released on Townhall CD in year 2000):

"Sunday Nights" contrasts two kinds of material-- loud clusters that are released quickly except for two or three sustained notes, and soft passages in a major key that are muted with something like a blackboard eraser. A climactic episode that sounds as though it were played with boxing gloves leads to a final cadence in which full-keyboard arpeggios are pedalled and then released to reveal quiet major chords...Hays's sympathy for this repertoire and her technical gifts make this album a powerful musical experience." Contemporary Keyboard May 1980

on Tellus #17 Video Arts Music, track 1, "Unnecessary Music" from Hays's "Touch of Touch" punk video opera.

"The Needy Sound", 17 minute audio art document created with voices of autistic children using the Brooklyn College Computer Music Center voice re-synthesis program and the Fairlight sampler, aided by an artist residency from Harvestworks, New York City. Available from Tallapoosa on CD or cassette. $30.

In the recordings collection of the Gaudeamus Foundation at Hilversum, Holland, Hays's 1971 live concert performance of Jos Kunst "Glass Music" and John Cage's "Sonatas" for prepared piano.

Video documentary, 60 minutes: "Southern Voices: A Composer's Exploration" directed by George Stoney, awarded the Blue Ribbon at the 1985 American Film Festival. Distributed by Filmmaker's Library, 124 East 40th Street, NY, NY, tel. 212-808-4980.

"One of those rare chances to get inside a work and to see the artist at work. Doris [Sorrel] is open and easy and fascinating to hear and watch." Dr. Elizabeth Wood

"'Her music...complex and dense in texture, but also shows a winningly humorous and human side. Though sometimes harsh, it's rarely severe...She gathered around 300 interviews with people..Sacred Harp singing, auctioneering, and local fife music. The camera followed her on these travels, and excerpts from the more amusing, ironic, or revealing encounters are liberally interspersed with orchestra rehearsals, interviews with linguists, and discussions between Hays and various people who have played important roles in her life...What emerges is a glimpse of the point in the compositional process where the personal and the professional overlap." Allan Kozinn, OPUS, June 1985

In video, a half hour program of Sorrel Doris Hays performing the premiere of Henry Cowell's "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra", including discussion between Hays and the conductor. Filmed and broadcast by Nebraska Television at an historic restored movie theater in Omaha. Available from the New York Public Library Research Collection at Lincoln Center, or for educational use from Tallapoosa Music. A copy is also in the Film Center Archives at Berkeley, California.

The 16mm. film "M.O.M. 'N P.O.P", 17 minutes duration, with sound track performances of Sorrel Hays, Loretta Goldberg and Margaret Tan, is distributed for rental and sale by Tallapoosa Music, 697 West End Avenue, Penthouse B, NY, NY 10025.

The gentle punk video opera "Touch of Touch", 7 plus minutes, is available for sale ($30 plus shipping) from Tallapoosa Music, 697 West End Avenue, Penthouse B, NY, NY 10025.

The art music video "Flowing Quilt", 9 minutes, is available for sale ($75) from Tallapoosa Music, 697 West End Avenue, Penthouse B, NY, NY 10025.

The videos "House" 5 minutes and "Pill Woo" 3 minutes ( from the "Sound Shadows" concert) are available for rental from Tallapoosa Music, 697 West End Avenue, Ph. B, NY, NY 10025.

"Echo U.S.A." 1991, hour long audio art with acousticians, audio engineers in discussion with Sorrel, and examples from echoing spaces in nature and from machines, for radio broadcast. For rental or sale. Tallapoosa Music.

The following Hoerspiel are licensed for broadcast from Westdeutscher Rundfunk WDR Appellhofplatz 1, Hörspiel Rights Abteilung, 50600,Cologne, Germany:

Dream in Her Mind

Echo: Whatchasay/Wie Bitte?

Sound Shadows

The Hub, Metropolis Atlanta

Love in Space/Liebe im Raum

Etwas Tun/Something (To Do) Doing

Celebration of NO

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