Joanne Forman
American composer Joanne Forman was chosen as one of the six from a field of over 200 to study with the Pulitzer Prize winning composer Dr. Robert Ward. She has composed ten one-act operas (for which she also wrote the librettos); orchestral, choral and chamber music; song cycles (in Spanish, German and English); and well over 100 piano pieces and musicals (including for children).
In 1987, Forman was commissioned to create the soundscape for an environmental exhibition of sculpture called Artifacts from an Alien Civilization at the Stables Art Centre in Taos, New Mexico. This resulted in Cave Vaults of the Moon, her first foray into composing with electronics.
She also had a long career in journalism, and was a puppeteer for 27 years, touring the USA and Southeast Asia.
Forman has a classical program on the public educational radio station KCEI-FM in Taos, New Mexico, where she has lived for many years.
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Boomkat Product Review:
Brandon Hocura's Séance centre dishes out Joanne Forman's deliciously pastoral score for vocals, synths, flutes and guitar, 'Cave Vaults of The Moon', some 30 years after it was first imagined, realised, and then left in stasis. A truly magnificent find, exactly the kind one might expect from the likes of Hocura, and a perfect addition to this beautiful label venture. RIYL the gentler aspects of László Hortobágyi, Ursula K. Le Guin & Todd Barton's'Music And Poetry Of the Kesh', or the Wicker Man soundtrack
"We humans, the nascent beings that we are, still haven't quite figured out the full potential of music. Dancing, meditating, emoting, protesting; these are all pretty basic. But what if we communicated more complex ideas with music? What if we codified all of our activities with music? This idea came to composer Joanne Forman when she was commissioned to create the soundscape for an environmental exhibition of sculpture called Artifacts from an Alien Civilization in 1987. The sculptures, elaborate ruins that had been found on the moon, begged the question: who created them and for what purpose?
Joanne Forman imagined that Earth's moon was a vacation spot for advanced beings from another galaxy. Cave Vaults of the Moon became a collection of sonic texts describing the fun things that went on there; earth-viewing, collecting information, building and playing. In her mind the sculptures in the exhibit were the remnants of a deserted playground of moon castles.
Forman's playful score for voice, Ensoniq Mirage, Juno 106, flute, guitar and effects, wafted through the exhibit every day for a month and then lay dormant for nearly 30 years. Unearthed here, Cave Vaults of the Moon sounds prescient and timeless, as if the Wicker Man had been scored by Pep Llopis, and we now have the opportunity to reimagine the messages contained within it. Restored and remastered and cut using DMM."
01. Joanne Forman - Starrise: Invocation of the Dawn (1:15)
02. Joanne Forman - The Twittering Machine (3:21)
03. Joanne Forman - Lauds (2:55)
04. Joanne Forman - Codex (5:14)
05. Joanne Forman - Meridian (2:58)
06. Joanne Forman - Moon Castle I (3:13)
07. Joanne Forman - Promeni I (3:50)
08. Joanne Forman - Preludiae Terrae (1:40)
09. Joanne Forman - Promeni II (2:42)
10. Joanne Forman - Moon Castle II (2:04)
11. Joanne Forman - Compline (3:16)
12. Joanne Forman - Starset: Acceptance of the Night (1:22)
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