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Wolf Edwards
Antanaklasi
Isrkra
Arc II
Wolf Edwards(b. Montreal, 12 November, 1972) taught himself electric guitar in 1986. He then began writing musical and lyrical compositions for underground political punk rock groups; an activity he began in 1987 and continues to this day. Edwards has been involved in many longstanding underground groups including Contempt (1986-1991), Black Kronstadt (1992-1996), and Iskra (2003-present). These bands have toured extensively, collectively performing over 300 dates in all the major cities of Canada and the United States, as well as many in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Mexico. Most of Edward's original compositions for this medium have been released on a number of anarchist punk/crust records which are currently still in circulation.
In 1994 he began formal musical training at the Victoria Conservatory of Music before transferring to the University of Victoria (1996-2000) where he studied composition and theory with Christopher Butterfield, John Celona, Michael Longton, and Harold Krebs. To further his education Edwards relocated to Montreal, Quebec (2000-2002), where he attended private lessons in compositional theory and analysis with composer Gilles Tremblay. In 2002 he was granted the two year University of Victoria Fellowship enabling him to complete the degree of Master of Music.
Edwards has been the recipient of many awards and prizes including the 2004 Canada Council for the Arts/Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Jules Leger Competition for New Chamber Music(third place), the 2002-2003 Molinari Quartet International (third place), the 2001 Strings of the Future International Composition Competition (first place), as well as the Murray Adaskin Prize in Composition in 1997.
From 1999 to 2006 Edwards has participated, lectured, and had his music performed in many international festivals and events throughout North America and Continental Europe. His works have been performed and/or commissioned by the Arditti String Quartet (London), the Molinari Quartet(Montreal), the Victoria Symphony (Victoria), the Aventa Ensemble (Victoria), the Sofia Soloists (Sofia, Bulgaria), Quasar Quatuor de Saxophones (Montreal), l'Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal, l'Ensemble Chorum (Montreal), and Quatuor Bozzini (Montreal).
Antanaklasi
For saxophone octet (SSAATTBB)
Antanaklasi (reflection) is a self-critical retrospective of my musical language. In the piece, I examine the musical elements of my past in order to move forward; for if a composer settles, they will be stunted; their work becoming a type of fossil rather than a living entity.
The music is mediated through my practice as an anarchist. I work with ideas, and forms, relevant to the immediate present, rather than pre-conceived architectures. Therefore another “reflection” is in motion, but one that reflects on the actions of life as I experience it.
Metaphorically speaking, current political, and social, convention serves specific agendas that do not support life. This composition opposes these structures, preferring to develop within its own world a type of free expression. A world that can survive, and flourish, without law and/or the large scale state.
The piece was written as two saxophone quartets, which may be performed together, or separate.
Antanaklasi is dedicated to the Quasar, the Arte, and composers Mark Molnar, and Charles-Antoine Fréchette.
This work was commissioned by the Quasar Saxophone Quartet with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. It was premiered on March 5 2011, by Arte and Quasar at the Theater Rigiblick in Zürich.
Iskra (2004)
for saxophone quartet
Iskra is a Russian word that means "spark," as in to
ignite. the work is the result of a single
"ignition," or idea. There is no overiding meta
structure or precompositional architecture. The piece
is a result of day-to-day work with no formal
procedure in mind, as in automatic writing or
painting. This enables a certain freedom from that
which constricts thereby allowing for the discovery of
new sounds and ideas. The form is variable, growing as
seems natural within the moments of creation. In the
case of my writing, forms, as a rule, are never
repeated and there is no hierarchical notions of
motif, melody, or harmony. That is not to say that
those elements do not exist, they are free to surface
in their own unique way with no specific mechanism of
control.
Iskra was commissioned and is dedicated to the Quasar
Saxophone Quartet. It has been premiered May 27 2004 in Montréal.
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