Blake Allen - INSOMNIA
Tracklist
Information
- Artist : Blake Allen
- Label : No Reverse Records
- Format : 2 x 12" (140g)
- Country : United States
- Genres : Classical
Description
Straight from its world premiere at Carnegie Hall, /INSOMNIA/ includes two multi-movement, sextet compositions for voice, string quartet, and piano, telling a story of how sleep deprivation and anxiety affect two individuals living nearly a century apart.
The first piece, "Sleeping and Waking" which uses text excerpted from the Fitzgerald story, will be performed by Carrico. The work follows Fitzgerald as he roams the streets during a sleepless night in Baltimore. De Waal will take the second piece, titled "Of Which, Tomorrow". The original piece features stream-of-consciousness texts written by Allen after he was repeatedly awakened at 4:05 AM every morning by anxiety and insomnia, used to center on a 30-something woman whose insomnia is derived from a fear of government mandated population control.
Known for scoring "strings to make you swoon" (New York Times), BLAKE LIAHONA ALLEN, PhD is an internationally recognized, award-winning composer, violist, and producer with a unique voice in contemporary music. Often merging the worlds of opera and musical theatre with traditional classical forms, Allen sits at the forefront of a surrealist, maximalist, and humanist world where his talents are only enumerated through the creation of a bespoke genre tailored to the brilliant artists he collaborates with.
An ex-Mormon, Allen's music is imbued with of darker, queer themes juxtaposed with hypocritical meritocracy of Disney ideals. As an extension of the simplicity found in Richard M. Sherman's melodies, Allen finds ways to blur lucidity into lush melancholy without falling into saccharine cliche´. Allen's compositional credits include The Shards of an Honor Code Junkie, Conversion (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), and his forthcoming INSOMNIA which arrives straight from Carnegie Hall.
Having lived in the classical world for most of his life, Allen's debut solo album, Sonatas, was released in April 2020 – four years after its debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art – and depicts the ethereal worlds of the deep sea and alien life in rural America, both scientific themes that permeate Allen's creative output.
Allen received his PhD from New York University, where he created the singular, reductive analysis of György Ligeti's Viola Sonata.