Christopher Tignor’s “Off-Centered Hearts” is a Sublime and Stirring Performance of the Possibilities of Processed Violin and Electronics

Composer Christopher Tignor has made a name for himself as an electro-acoustic violinist who as a live performer has fused the aesthetics and live performance style of acoustic instruments with computerized processing and use of pedals. His 2023 album The Art of Surrender showcases the broad spectrum of his experiments in minimalism and the subtleties of musicianship and expression available once you open up the possibilities of modifying tone in real time and pairing it with unconventional rhythms and song structure. The single “Off-Centered Hearts” has the soaring melodies one might expect but Tignor angles the long themes of the song to come together in elegant dramatic convergences with the mood of the song augmented and anchored by electronic low end and steady, finely syncopated percussion. When the violin glides seemingly along in a space of cosmic background drones near mid-song it’s a passage of sublime contemplation that segues into a short moment of atonality and directly into lightly plucked and processed violin tones and reminds one of the creative potential of an instrument most of us think we have heard taken to its sonic limits already. Listen to “Off-Centered Hearts” on YouTube and follow Tignor at the links below.