Paula Matthusen · Composer

In the summer of 2017, working percussion duo Echo Artifact (Al Cerulo and Jude Traxler), this second movement was reorchestrated as a trio, using percussion, metal tins, a hydrophone, transducers, and feedback to ricochet the original recordings through a large vessel of water (pictured above). This made the fixed media material highly malleable, as it generated new resonances and feedback through physical interactions with its reflections through water.

The revised version of the second movement of eden’s arch of promise bending was premiered at a combined event between the Avant Media Festival and Metropolis Ensemble in New York. It was subsequently recorded at the Keeper’s House – a historic site that was part of the Old Croton Aqueduct by Echo Artifact.

Many thanks to the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct for making these recordings possible, in particular Mavis Cain and Robert Kornfeld. Thanks as well to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Special thanks to Néstor Prieto for assistance in recording throughout this project, and to Dexter Dine for assistance in the Keeper’s House Recording.