Splectra is an elegant harp solo embellished by subtle digital processing. Each of the work’s two sections gradually expands a simple rising motive, becoming harmonically richer by adding pitches related to its opening note’s (low C) harmonic series. Splectra is performed by Los Angeles harpist and new-music champion Alison Bjorkedal. The design and realization of the processing was a collaboration between Robert Carl and Matt Sargent.
Robert Carl is a prolific composer, a performer, and an author of books and articles on new music. His eclectic though often serene compositions usually explore a harmonic language based in the overtone series. “[Carl’s] writing is free of the predictable trappings and dogma, conveying an intelligence that doesn’t need to bury itself in theory in order to express something serious and compelling.” (Time Out New York) “Robert Carl would seem to have a hard time writing dull music.” (Boston Globe) “[Carl] has settled into a more serene, meditative idiom, but still with a dissonant edge.” (Kyle Gann) “[Carl’s] work possesses a great deal of immediate, surface appeal, and yet every piece has deeper layers that repay further listening and consideration.” (Fanfare)
