Pandæmonium is based on nine texts from a book of the same name by Humphrey Jennings. The book is a collection of writings that document “the coming of the machine as seen by contemporary observers” between 1660 and 1886. This compilation of personal accounts from journals, newspapers, and letters between friends creates a wonderfully varied portrait of a rapidly changing society. This piece sets nine of these texts, capitalizing on the unique language that ROVA has developed in their thirty years of playing together. Part musical suite, part radio drama, and part historical collage, Pandæmonium is the culmination of a multi-faceted process that was as unpredictable for me as the history on which it is based.

Pandæmonium was premiered at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco by:

ROVA SAXOPHONE QUARTET:

BRUCE ACKLEY – SOPRANO SAXOPHONE
STEVE ADAMS – ALTO SAXOPHONE
LARRY OCHS – TENOR SAXOPHONE
JON RASKIN – BARITONE SAXOPHONE

and

MATTHIAS BOSSI– NARRATION
JOAN MANKIN– NARRATION