Sam Salem

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Solo works

Waves of crashing blackness (2024), 32′for solo piano, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Way Up & The Way Down (2023), 38′for solo percussion, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Bury Me Deep (2022), 30′for solo trombone, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
THIS IS FINE (2021), 7′for solo cello & fixed audiovisual media
The Raft Breaks (2019), 20′for solo violin, amplified objects, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media

Chamber works

Everyone No-one (2026), 60′for violin, cello, trombone, bass clarinet, ondes martenot, percussion, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Museum of the Lowest Place (2026), 30′for voice, electric guitar, violin, double bass, prepared piano, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Of Darkness 1 (2024), 9′for voice / flute, electric guitar, cello, percussion & fixed audiovisual media
Shadows pass the morning ‘gins to break, The Starry floor, the watry shore (2022), 28′for amplified quartet, 12 orchestral musicians & fixed visual media
Midlands (2019), 48′for voice, electric guitar, keyboards, string trio, bass clarinet, amplified objects, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Tower (2019), 15′for electric guitar, cello, percussion, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Lovers (2017), 9′for string quintet, 2 object operators, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Great Inundation (2017), 14′for 3 object operators, cello, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Untitled Valley of Fear (2016), 12′for 3 object operators, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Not one can pass away (2015), 11′for 2 object operators, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media

Acousmatic works (selected)

Himlen Var (2015), 11′12-channel acousmatic
Too late, too far (2014), 7′stereo acousmatic
The Fall (2014), 30′stereo acousmatic
Dérive (2013), 15′stereo acousmatic
The Sun Warms The Memory (2011), 12′stereo acousmatic
Everyone No-one (2026), 60′for violin, cello, trombone, bass clarinet, ondes martenot, percussion, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Museum of the Lowest Place (2026), 30′for voice, electric guitar, violin, double bass, prepared piano, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Waves of crashing blackness (2024), 32′for solo piano, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Of Darkness 1 (2024), 9′for voice / flute, electric guitar, cello, percussion & fixed audiovisual media
The Way Up & The Way Down (2023), 38′for solo percussion, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Bury Me Deep (2022), 30′for solo trombone, electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Shadows pass the morning ‘gins to break, The Starry floor, the watry shore (2022), 28′for amplified quartet, 12 orchestral musicians & fixed visual media
THIS IS FINE (2021), 7′for solo cello & fixed audiovisual media
Midlands (2019), 48′for voice, electric guitar, keyboards, string trio, bass clarinet, amplified objects, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Raft Breaks (2019), 20′for solo violin, amplified objects, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Tower (2019), 15′for electric guitar, cello, percussion, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Lovers (2017), 9′for string quintet, 2 object operators, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
The Great Inundation (2017), 14′for 3 object operators, cello, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Untitled Valley of Fear (2016), 12′for 3 object operators, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Not one can pass away (2015), 11′for 2 object operators, performative electronics & fixed audiovisual media
Himlen Var (2015), 11′12-channel acousmatic
Too late, too far (2014), 7′stereo acousmatic
The Fall (2014), 30′stereo acousmatic
Dérive (2013), 15′stereo acousmatic
The Sun Warms The Memory (2011), 12′stereo acousmatic

Releases

London Triptych (2021)dFolds · digital & cassette
The New Unusual (2021)dFolds · digital
© Sam Salem 2026

The Way Up & The Way Down


2023 · c. 38′
for solo percussion, electronics & fixed audiovisual media

Programme note

"Inconstancy is my very essence; it is the game I never cease to play as I turn my wheel in its ever changing circle, filled with joy as I bring the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top.

Yes, rise up on my wheel if you like, but don't count it an injury when by the same token you begin to fall, as the rules of the game require.

You must surely have been aware of my ways."

Boethius

"The way up and the way down are one and the same"

Heraclitus

The Way Up & The Way Down reimagines a 12 string acoustic guitar as the central instrument within a large-scale solo percussion piece, augmented with preparations, electronics and fixed audiovisual media.

It is a meditation on longing, nostalgia, memory and loss, a half-forgotten dream. It is delicate, fragmented, and frequently interrupted, and dedicated to the composer’s mother. 

This work was commissioned by Noam Bierstone, and developed over several years of close collaboration. It premiered at La Sala Rossa, Montreal, on 28th August 2023, and received its UK premiere at the Another Sky Festival, Bishopsgate Institute, London, on 29th September 2023.

Photographs: What About The Ash / Marc Tunguz

Performances

Noam Bierstone
28 August 2023, La Sala Rossa, Montreal
30 August 2023, Bains Publics, Rimouski
31 August – 3 September 2023, Grande Rencontre des Arts Médiatiques, Percé
5 September 2023, Charlotte St. Arts Centre, Fredericton
7 September 2023, Goodrobot, Mousetrap, Halifax
9 September 2023, Moncton University, Moncton
29 September 2023, Another Sky Festival, London