{"id":440328,"date":"2022-10-19T13:28:42","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T17:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/?p=440328"},"modified":"2023-12-08T14:01:49","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T19:01:49","slug":"elena-ruehr-turning-emotion-into-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/nmbx\/elena-ruehr-turning-emotion-into-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"Elena Ruehr: Turning Emotion Into Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xRc-cs3nq6E?si=t4O3Pnr_oGNFKRT6\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc; line-break: anywhere; word-break: normal; overflow: hidden; white-space: nowrap; text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif; font-weight: 100;\"><a style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" title=\"New Music USA\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/new-music-usa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Music USA<\/a> \u00b7 <a style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" title=\"SoundLives Episode #18 - Elena Ruehr: Turning Emotion Into Sound\" href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/new-music-usa\/elena_ruehr_turning_emotion_into_sound\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SoundLives Episode #18 &#8211; Elena Ruehr: Turning Emotion Into Sound<br \/>\nElena Ruehr in conversation with Frank J. Oteri<br \/>\nVia Zoom on Friday, September 23, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.<br \/>\nTranscribed by Julia Lu.<br \/>\nIntroductions by Bridget Pierce. Audio production by Anthony Nieves.<\/a><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Ever since I heard the Cypress Quartet&#8217;s first recording of three string quartets by Elena Ruehr over a decade ago, I was entranced by her music. And after hearing the Boston Modern Orchestra Project&#8217;s 2014 recording of works of hers inspired by paintings of Georgia O&#8217;Keefe and David Mitchell&#8217;s novel <em>Cloud Atlas<\/em>, I made a mental note that I needed to talk with her for NewMusicBox one day. This fall turned out to be an ideal time for us to finally connect. Her opera <em>Cosmic Cowboy<\/em>, created in collaboration with librettist Cerise Lim Jacobs, just had a successful three-performance run at Emerson College, and Guerrilla Opera will give the first performance of another Ruehr opera, <em>The<\/em> <em>Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage<\/em>, created with librettist Royce Vavrek, at MIT in February. Plus her Ninth String Quartet is receiving its world premiere the first weekend of November.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a remarkable amount of activity after the last two and a half years of pandemic-related cancellations. But Ruehr was nevertheless extremely active during that period, composing over 30 new pieces, some of which were even performed during that time, either in virtual concerts or masked up in controlled environments. Ruehr&#8217;s prolific output is a by-product of her maintaining a consistent composing schedule (five hours every day from Noon to 5:00pm) as well as her never-ending inspiration from the visual arts and her constant reading (four books a week), plus her desire to communicate with listeners.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Beauty is really important, but also accessibility,&#8221; she opined during a Zoom chat we had in late September. &#8220;I&#8217;m sure that your average non-classical musician isn&#8217;t gonna necessarily like what I do, but I think most people who like classical music, even standard classical music, will find that the music that I write is something that they can approach. And that matters to me. That&#8217;s important to me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>All the other details that go into creating a piece&#8211;whether its her fascination with combinatorial diatonic pitch sets (an influence from serial music that sounds nothing like serialism) or how she sonically interprets O&#8217;Keefe paintings and novels like <em>Cloud Atlas<\/em> and Ann Patchett&#8217;s <em>Bel Canto<\/em>&#8211;are ultimately much less important for her than the emotional impact she hopes her music will have on listeners.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I write it not caring whether you know the references, because it&#8217;s the emotional transference of one thing to another, and that&#8217;s the thing that I hope that the people who are listening get,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;If they have the references, it enriches it. But, if they don&#8217;t, the emotional thing is hopefully contained in it. &#8230; I try to make a sound out of the emotion that I&#8217;m feeling. And when I say ah yes, I captured it, then I write it down, and then I work on it. So it&#8217;s all about turning emotion into sound. As far as I&#8217;m concerned, that&#8217;s my job; that&#8217;s what I do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Her love for O&#8217;Keefe makes a lot of sense. (&#8220;She was doing representational art at a time when abstract art was sort of the thing. &#8230; Her story gave me courage to do what I wanted to do, which I think is more representational and less abstract, or more narrative and about expressing emotion.&#8221;)\u00a0 But sometimes the things that have inspired her are quirkier. She actually attributes her attachment to writing for string quartet as well as her music&#8217;s polystylistic inclinations to hearing the Beethoven and Bart\u00f3k quartets when she was a little girl and mixing them all up, erroneously thinking that they were all composed by someone named Bella Bart\u00f3k, a female composer!<\/p>\n<p>From that formative mash-up, she went on to immerse herself in Medieval and Renaissance music, minimalism, world music, and even pop. Now it&#8217;s all part of her compositional language.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Anything that I like, I will just incorporate or steal, or whatever you want to call it,&#8221; she said with a grin.<\/p>\n<p>We had a very pleasurable hour chatting about all these things and I felt it could have gone on much longer. But I made sure we ended before Noon so she could embark on another composition.<\/p>\n<div class=\"owl-carousel owl-theme\">\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Just to talk about the pandemic a little bit. ... I wrote like 30 pieces in two years or some kind of insane amount, I don't know, because I was working every day for five hours a day, and I had nothing else to do.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Anything that I like, I will just incorporate or steal, or whatever you want to call it.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Another thing about Georgia O'Keefe that I like is that she was doing representational art at a time when abstract art was sort of the thing. And she was very brave about it. Her story gave me courage to do what I wanted to do, which I think is more representational and less abstract, or more narrative and about expressing emotion. <\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>It's all about turning emotion into sound. As far as I'm concerned, that's my job; that's what I do.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>I write it not caring whether you know the references, because it's the emotional transference of one thing to another, and that's the thing that I hope that the people who are listening get. And if they have the references, it enriches it. But, if they don't, the emotional thing is hopefully contained in it.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>I'm a real weirdo reader. I read three, four books a week. ... I only read novels. And I read everything from Pulitzer Prize-winning literature to the ancient classics, to the junk. I love sci-fi, mystery novels. I read everything.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Vivaldi would have totally flipped if he was just in a time machine and appeared in a shopping mall and heard his music being played perfectly, coming from heaven.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>I thought that B\u00e9la Bart\u00f3k was a girl composer who had written all the Bart\u00f3k and the Beethoven string quartets. ... It wasn't until I was like 15-years-old and taking piano lessons, playing Bart\u00f3k, and I said, \"Oh, I love Bart\u00f3k. She's my favorite composer.\" And the teacher said, Bart\u00f3k's a guy, and I had a huge argument with her.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>Being beautiful is very important as far as I'm concerned. I take it very seriously. Emotive is important too. I have this little phrase--the surface is simple; the structure complex. \r\n\r\n. <\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>I'm sure that your average non-classical musician isn't gonna necessarily like what I do, but I think most people who like classical music, even standard classical music, will find that the music that I write is something that they can approach.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>I was very aware of the fact that I'm white and I'm writing an opera about a black story. And I felt pretty uncomfortable about it.  ... If I don't tell the story because I'm white, what does that mean? You know? Am I not telling a story because I'm white? That's sort of a racist thing, too. Right? So I just decided it was better to tell the story and let the chips fall where they may.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"pullquotes-wrapper pullquote-slide item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pullquote-text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3>I changed all the religious words, so instead of saying Lord have mercy, I just say, oh have mercy. ... I'm not a religious person. Whenever I hear music that's religious and I see that religious word, I go, oh, that's not me. I'm not included. You know? If you are religious, it doesn't mean you can't be included.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"attribution-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ElenaRuehr-Square-200x200.png\" alt=\"Elena Ruehr\" class=\"attribution-headshot\" \/><h5 class=\"attribution-text\">Elena Ruehr<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><script>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(document).ready(function(){\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tjQuery(\".owl-carousel\").owlCarousel({\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\titems:1,\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmargin:10,\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tautoHeight:true\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t\t\t});\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/script>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/playlist\/69cCwD7bVnXTHbh9RLf4dT?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/1366148038&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elena Ruehr\u2019s prolific output is a by-product of her maintaining a consistent composing schedule (five hours every day from Noon to 5:00pm) as well as her never-ending inspiration from the visual arts and her constant reading (four books a week), plus her desire to communicate with listeners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":522,"featured_media":440350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,952],"tags":[229,876,372,1167,2223,436,257,745,1963],"nmb_categories":[955],"how_to_category":[],"nmb_tags":[],"internal_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-440328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcasts-and-discussions","category-soundlives","tag-accessibility","tag-composer-conversations","tag-inspiration","tag-music-influenced-by-literature","tag-music-influenced-by-painting","tag-opera","tag-orchestra","tag-pandemic","tag-string-quartets","nmb_categories-soundlives"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Elena Ruehr: Turning Emotion Into Sound - New Music USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/nmbx\/elena-ruehr-turning-emotion-into-sound\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elena Ruehr: Turning Emotion Into Sound - New Music USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Elena Ruehr\u2019s prolific output is a by-product of her maintaining a consistent composing schedule (five hours every day from Noon to 5:00pm) as well as her never-ending inspiration from the visual arts and her constant reading (four books a week), plus her desire to communicate with listeners.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/nmbx\/elena-ruehr-turning-emotion-into-sound\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"New Music USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewMusicUSA\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-19T17:28:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-08T19:01:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newmusicusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Elena-Ruehr-Horizontal-4-1024x576.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Frank J. 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