Catherine Lamb Explained

Catherine Lamb (born 1982 in Olympia, Washington) is an American composer and violist, and a winner of the 2020 Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize.^[1]

Career

Lamb describes her music as exploring "the interaction of tone, summations of shapes and shadows, phenomenological expansions, the architecture of the liminal (states in between outside/inside), and the long introduction form".^[2] Most of her works explore extended harmonic spaces in just intonation.^[3] Lamb explained her compositional philosophy in The Wire: "I follow the philosophy that the most intense sound is not the most intensive... I don’t agree with those who believe that sounds need to be pushed in order to be physical, or that they need to be loud in order to hear difference or summation tones. Particularly when working with particular tonal colourations and shadings, the more the tones are played in a plain and relaxed manner with room to blossom, the more expressive and generative they might become.”^[4]

Lamb was also the film score composer for Anhe Ghore Da Daan. She has collaborated with Eliane Radigue, Marc Sabat, and Johnny Chang; received commissions from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Dedalus, Konzert Minimal, the London Contemporary Orchestra, NeoN, Plus Minus Ensemble, Explore Ensemble, Yarn/Wire; and awards and grants from the Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Henry Cowell Foundation, and Akademie Schloss Solitude, among others.^{[5] [1]}

Lamb studied at CalArts with James Tenney and Michael Pisaro and independently with Mani Kaul, and received her MFA from Bard College.^[6]

Works

Lamb's notable works include divisio spiralis (2019), curvo totalitas, Parallaxis Forma (2016), muto infinitas (2016), Point/Wave (2015), Matter/Moving (2012), and the Prisma Interius series (2015–present).^[7] Lamb was commissioned by the BBC for Portions Transparent/Opaque, which premiered as the 13th performance of the 2023 BBC Proms.^[8]

Discography

Lamb's music has been featured several times on the British experimental music label Another Timbre, with releases including, among other labels:

• three bodies (moving) (at53)^[9]
• Viola Torros - Catherine Lamb & Johnny Chan (at131)^[10]
• point/wave (at142)^[11]
• Atmospheres Transparent/Opaque featuring Ensemble Dedalus (New World Records)^[12]
• Muto Infinitas (at173)^[13]
• String Quartets with the JACK Quartet (Kairos)^[14]
• parallaxis forma (at215) featuring Explore Ensemble, Exaudi Vocal Ensemble, and Lotte Betts-Dean^[15]
• Prisma Interius VIII (at218)^[16]
• Curva Triangulus (at227) featuring Ensemble Proton^[17]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Catherine Lamb . www.evs-musikstiftung.ch . en.
2. Web site: Cat Lamb . sacredrealism.org.
3. Web site: Interacting Spectra: A Conversation with Cat Lamb . Sound American . en.
4. Web site: Mann . Zaph . Listen: Catherine Lamb compositions . The Wire . en.
5. Web site: Catherine Lamb . Foundation for Contemporary Arts .
6. Web site: Catherine Lamb . www.indexical.org . en.
7. Web site: Meyer . Bill . Catherine Lamb and Rebecca Lane explore liminal musical experiences with precision . Chicago Reader . 5 December 2019 . en.
8. Web site: Prom 13: Tchaikovsky's 'Pathétique' Symphony .
9. Web site: Another Timbre, 'three bodies (moving)', at53 .
10. Web site: Another Timbre, 'Viola Torros', at131 .
11. Web site: Another Timbre, 'point/wave', at142 .
12. Web site: Atmospheres Transparent/Opaque .
13. Web site: Another Timbre, 'Muto Infinitas', at215 .
14. Web site: CATHERINE LAMB: String Quartets, 0018010KAI .
15. Web site: Another Timbre, 'parallaxis forma', at215 .
16. Web site: Another Timbre, 'Translucent Harmonies', at218 .
17. Web site: Another Timbre, 'Curva Triangulus', at227 .