Major Periods in the compositions of Richard O. Burdick
Richard considers himself a “Still Emerging Composer”
1) First composition: “A Solo” for Horn, Dec. 21, 1976 preformed for the cousin of Ned Rorem and my mother who had a Masters degree in music composition
2) High School:
3) Graphic Notations: I did a lot of exploration into alternate notation systems (1978-
82.) Now must of these works have be translated to standard notation
4) Tape music in College: Studied with Tony Gnazzo creating
sounds with a Buchla synth & tape etc. (See opus 44.)
5) Found the I Ching c. 1980, and have gone through 5 revisions of the scales, and now confidant that the cosmology is correct.
6) 1983 Won Kensington Symphony's composition contest.
7) Circle Concerts, Circle Wind Octet – Presented 21 concerts of various things from a “Picture Music improv” to my 1st Chamber Symphony.(Five of the members of the Octet died of aids before 1990.)
8) Trinity Chamber Concerts – became manager in 1984 – presented around 24 concerts a year for 19 years
9) Solo Recitals and Sculptures, Mill Brass Trio, Bay Wind Quintet, - performed a lot of chamber music in the 1980’s at Mills College and around Northern California
10) Sacramento Symphony, Stan Lunetta & Joseph Schillinger, Ragas or Universal Rhythms, Op. 95. (of note for 2025.)
11) Circle Concerts – After the Bankruptcy of the Sac. Symphony resumed “Circle Concerts” with performances all around Northern California. Had a number of premieres.I think we did over 50 concerts.
13) Performed a recital at the State Capitol and caused a political stir when the Governor didn’t think I should be paid when he asked me to play at a private party.
14) Napa Composers with Asher Raboy & others I wrote Chamber Symphony No. 7, Op. 133
15) Won the International audition for Principal Horn of Regina Symphony in 2003. Of particular note was a performance of Chamber Symphony No. 8 “Raga & Tao: Views of Spiral Galaxies”, Op. 138 that was performed in the lobby of the CBC in 2004 with Victor Sawa conducting.
16) The Electrum Brass Trio performed quite a few concerts in Regina, Saskatoon and & Moose Jaw in 2012. Of particular note is the performance of my Free Trio – A graphic notation work like I did in the late 1970’s – fun.
17) Since 2012 I have mostly been developing a presence on the web, hiding and working.
18) Now I am planning to present bi-monthly performances of my works in Regina.
Having looked back at my life and working on my solo horn sculptures for an upcoming recital, I have come to the understanding that I could be taking three different approaches to composition: 1) fully written like Mozart, 2) starting by constructing sound “on tape’ going back and fourth between notation and sound construction, and 3) completely constructed by exploring and recording sounds. I am thinking about a series of compositions that show the three approaches that feature solo instruments, like Berio’s Sequenzas, but Burdick’s “Contrast Constructs.”
Richard O. Burdick (April 22, 2025)