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{{Short description|Musical composition by Micheal Torke}}
{{For|the community in the United States|Vanada, Indiana}}
{{Italic title}}
'''''Vanada''''' is an early musical composition by [[Michael Torke]]. A [[chamber music|chamber]] piece, ''Vanada'' was composed in 1984 while Torke was still a student. Published in 1986, the piece is scored for a [[musical ensemble]] of twelve musicians using a mix of acoustic and electric instruments.

==Information==
[[File:Torke's Vanada (1984) chord.png|thumb|This chord serves as the basis of ''Vanada's'' harmony. {{audio|Torke's Vanada (1984) chord.mid|Play}}]]
{{Quote box
 |quote = "In nearly all of Torke's music there's an implicit tension between a kind of free-form spontaneity and the tight structural control that he likes to impose on his material. An early work, the jazz-inspired ''Vanada'' (1984) bustles with a restless urban energy but, like fast-moving people in a modern city, each element knows precisely where it is heading. It's one of Torke's harshest scores, close in spirit to the aggressive European minimalism of Louis Andriessen"
 |source = – Staines, p. 588.
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While written in the key of B Major/G{{music|#}} Minor,<ref>Torke, p. 1.</ref> the piece is based around an eight-note chord with a [[nonharmonic bass|non-key]] [[bass note]] of D [[natural (music)|natural]]. While the keyboards produce the chord all at once, the other instruments have it as a center for their [[Musical phrasing|phrasings]].<ref>Oteri, p. 1.</ref>

''Vanada'' begins with two bars in ''fortissimo'', only to restart with a ''pianissimo'' and ''piano'' section punctuated with contrasting ''forte'' notes (bars 3 to 22). Later sections continue with dynamically contrasting material. The piece ends with the synthesizers rising in crescendo to a final blast at ''fffff'' or ''fortississississimo'' (bars 353 & 354). The piece has been described as "a romp for student chamber orchestra".<ref>Wierzbicki, p. 91.</ref>

While the piece has received critical acclaim,<ref>Fiatow, p. 244.</ref> Torke's ideas for the piece were opposed by the musical establishment at the time he composed it. The guest composer at the [[Eastman School of Music]], where Torke was studying at the time, dismissed the material as "dangerously close to the corruption that's happening to all American music."<ref name="Page3">Oteri, p. 3</ref>
The piece represents the freer approach of [[post-minimalism]] as compared to the austerity of [[serialism]] and [[minimalism (music)|minimalism]].<ref name="Page2">Oteri, p. 2.</ref> ''Vanada'' is Torke's first example of this approach, and the composer has consistently used it since.<ref name="Page3"/>

Torke was influenced by [[Milton Babbitt]]'s time-point system in his composition of ''Vanada'', but added four extra notes to create a piece with a {{music|time|4|4}} [[time signature]], rather than using {{music|time|12|8}} or {{music|time|12|16}} time which is normal for Babbitt's system. Torke was also influenced by pop musician [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]'s 1983 [[Madonna (Madonna album)|self-titled album]], including the song "Physical Attraction".<ref name="Page2"/> ''Vanada'' has been described as instantiating a "metallic sound world", similar in character to the work of the [[Dutch people|Dutch]], minimalist composer [[Louis Andriessen]].<ref>Staines, p. 588.</ref>

A performance of the piece by the [[London Sinfonietta]], conducted by [[Kent Nagano]], was recorded in November, 1989 at CBS Studio 1 in [[London]], and originally released by [[Argo Records (UK)]]. This recording was re-released by Ecstatic Records in 2004.<ref>See liner notes for Argo Records ARGO 430 209–2, and liner notes for Ecstatic Records ER092299.</ref>

==Instrumentation==
*[[French horn|Horn]] in F
*[[Trumpet]] in C
*[[Trombone]]
*[[Xylophone]]
*[[Vibraphone]] and [[Glockenspiel]], played by a single musician
*[[Marimba]]
*[[Piano]]
*[[Electric piano]]
*Two [[polyphonic synthesizer]]s, one with [[glissando]] 
*[[Electric bass]]
*[[Percussion section#Auxiliary percussion|Auxiliary percussion]] or [[electronic drums]]<ref>Torke, "Composer's Note" and "Instrumentation", p. i.</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Fiatow, Sheryl "A New Collaboration" in ''Playbill'', Volume 7, Issues 1–12 (American Theatre Press, 1988).
* [[Frank J. Oteri|Oteri, Frank J.]], "Keys to the Music of Michael Torke" in the liner notes to ''Five'' of the ''Ecstatic Collection: Music by Michael Torke'' ER092299 (Ecstatic Records, 2004).
* Staines, Joe (ed.), ''The Rough Guide to Classical Music'', 5th Edition (Rough Guides, 2010).
* Torke, Michael (composer), ''Vanada'' ([[Boosey and Hawkes]]/Hendon Music, 1986).
* Wierzbicki, James, "Torke: Adjustable Wrench; Rust; Slate; Vanada; the Yellow Pages" in ''Musical America 111''(4) (Jul 1991).

==External links==
*Alexander Street Press – Music Online: Classical Scores Library – [http://shmu.alexanderstreet.com/View/375295 Vanada; by Torke, Michael (composer); Boosey and Hawkes (publisher); published 1986; 89pp]

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[[Category:Compositions by Michael Torke]]
[[Category:1984 compositions]]
[[Category:20th-century classical music]]