Composer Phil Barish
Thank you for visiting my new website under construction!
I originally studied composition at the University of Illinois with Thomas Fredrickson, David Liptak, Salvatore Martirano, John Melby, Sever Tipei and Scott Wyatt.
Following my studies, I pursued a career outside of music while still writing, playing and collaborating in musical genres that differed from the rich, modern (and rather fulfilling) aesthetics of my academic environment.
With new music inspired from those years studying with such masters, I am starting this site with a new chamber composition that I felt an urgency to communicate for historical perspective, and perhaps therapeutic response to... the election.
World Winds
(This composition has not yet had its premier performance.)
... a concise but programmatic motion through the decades culminating in our current condition:
This music reflects on periods of mixed American expression within the context of the greater world. For the last half of the country's age, certain stretches of history can possibly be summarized in sound. This very subjective impression of that expression is what I set out to accomplish in the proportional nanosecond of 7 minutes. While this short length may respect the attention spans of many that contributed to our current socio-political condition, the music is structured across 6 time periods (plus the current one) that delineate certain well-known events. These periods could be interpreted in light of a graduated race to "somewhere." Therefore, these periods begin with 60 years, then 32 years, then 8 years+8 years+8 years+8 years+Now.
The periods (and their music) ebb and flow between AND within themselves as impressions of mixed American expression: Sometimes progressing, sometimes regressing, but consistently confused and in reaction to the previous periods' (accumulated) mixed American expression.
The score preface outlines the periods as follows:
1901 - 1961: Rehearsal 1-43
1961 - 1993: Rehearsal 43-86
1993 - 2001: Rehearsal 86-116
2001 - 2009: Rehearsal 116-140
2009 - 2017: Rehearsal 140-162
2017 - 2025: Rehearsal 162-217
2025 - A message of hope... with a warning: Rehearsal 217 - 225
Perusal Score
Click to open or download