Barnes Dances

From the composer

I've often worked with electronic sounds, and yet previously I had avoided incorporating recognizable real-world sounds in my compositions. Perhaps due to a subconscious fear of sounding dated or a belief that concert music should remain abstract, I gravitated toward ambiguous or drone-like electronics.

This changed during a vacation in Iceland when I encountered the distinctive sounds of Reykjavík's crosswalks. Designed to aid the blind, these signals had an unusual rhythmic cadence: a repeating cycle of 5 notes that created a strange, uneven lilt. Transfixed by this sound, I captured it with the portable recording device I always carry.

I became fascinated by how each city uniquely orchestrates its crosswalk sounds. This seemingly mundane and functional aspect of urban life revealed itself as potential artistic material. My exploration expanded to include crosswalk recordings from Jersey City, Brooklyn, Paris, and Florence.

This research culminated in Barnes Dances, five interconnected pieces for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and electronic sounds. The title references a "Barnes Dance" intersection, named after the traffic commissioner Henry A. Barnes—an intersection where all vehicles stop simultaneously, allowing pedestrians to cross in any direction, including diagonally. The concept proved so popular that people reportedly said "Barnes has made the people so happy they're dancing in the streets."

The first dance opens with a brief introduction from Newark Avenue in Jersey City before transporting us to Reykjavík's 5/8 lilt. Each ensemble member employs unique techniques to mimic the crosswalk's percussive sound: the flute's "tongue-pizz," the cello's pizzicato, and the violin's bounced ricochet ornaments the lilting dance.

The second dance returns to Jersey City, where the crosswalks, in a characteristically American way, speak directly to pedestrians. I fed recordings of standard crosswalk phrases ("wait," "walk") into an AI learning algorithm to generate new words in the same voice, imagining a malfunctioning crosswalk that develops its own consciousness.

The third dance draws from Brooklyn recordings, featuring a malfunctioning crosswalk that resembles a jackhammer. The ensemble creates rhythmic, unpitched noises while the flute and clarinet's wailing multiphonics echo the chaos of Brooklyn traffic.

The fourth dance, in Paris, explores the smooth-spoken voices of crosswalks ("Rue Lafayette rouge, piéton") in canon with another street’s signals. This rare melodic crosswalk sound inspires a flowing, chromatic dialogue between flute and clarinet. An alarm clock sound from Florence intersects with spoken directions like "green, red, dark, clear” in French.

The final dance weaves together sounds from all previous movements, creating a true "Barnes Dance" where listeners can mentally "cross" whichever street they choose—diagonally from Iceland to Brooklyn!

Barnes Dances was commissioned by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting, Hub New Music, Rocket City New Music, and CAP UCLA, and is dedicated to Hub: Mike, Gleb, Meg, and Jesse.

ABOUT

Hub New Music and Christopher Cerrone collaborate on their second commission project, a new 20-minute electroacoustic piece premiering in spring 2025. The work is inspired by the composer’s travels abroad, and incorporates the sounds of different crosswalks from Brooklyn, Paris, Florence and Reykjavík. When hearing these seemingly mundane sounds, the composer was struck by their beauty and rhythmic intricacies. Cerrone also writes that the piece is both music and a form of advocacy, as these sounds are often unnoticed by sighted people crossing the street. 

Collaborator

SAMPLE PROGRAM

Angélica Negrón, Pedazos intermitentes de un lugar ya fragmentado

Nico Muhly, Drown

Julius Eastman, Joy Boy

Christopher Cerrone, Barnes Dance