Emily Duncan and Randall Woolf - 2025 - Woolf at the Door

(30:31; Neuma Records)






















Track list:
1. Everything Is Green 11:55
2. Scott Somebody 7:40
3. Native Tongues 10:56

Line-up:
Emily Duncan - flute
Randall Woolf - composer
with:
David Foster Wallace - text
Kathleen Supove - piano
Rinde Eckert - voice
Sara Wendt - vocals
Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim - violin
Jocelyn Zhu - violin
Jay Julio - viola
Drake Driscoll - cello
Tyler Vittoria - bass
Zach Nicely - conductor


US musician Emily Duncan has collaborated with US composer Randall Woolf to create material for her debut album "Woolf at the Door", a production that was released through US label Neuma Records in the summer of 2025. Duncan is an upcoming musician specializing in the flute as her instrument, while composer Woolf is a seasoned hand in the US music scene.

The three compositions that Duncan explores alongside various musicians here are all unique in their own way, but also share some common properties. Where the main of the denominators is that they all probably could be described as coming with associations towards the chamber music tradition.

This is due to the light toned, elegant and often joyful nature of the music, and obviously with Duncan's elegant, flowing flute wanderings being a key component in this landscape. Various sounds and effects are added to the proceedings, alongside real instruments as far as the firsdt and third of the compositions are concerned, and different types of vocal cues and effects are central properties in all of these compositions too. Where we get a male voice and an ongoing storytelling as the fixture in 'Everything Is Green', accompanied by nonverbal female backing vocal effects. Fragmented spoken words and repeated words and phrases in different voices are on display on 'Scott Somebody', and at last we get the voice used as a percussion instrument on the concluding 'Native Tongues'. 

I find that this is a bit of a theatrical creation on a few different levels, obviously the interaction between words, voices and music is a part of this perception. That the moods and atmospheres do come with a light toned, otherworldly feel to them is also a matter of interest. And a property of this production that may give these creations a broader appeal than what may often be the norm for material of this nature. 

My overall impression is that those with a certain affection for light toned, flowing and elegant varieties of classical music, who enjoy this type of music accompanied by various forms of voice additions, and who also tend to enjoy chamber music of the more romantic kind probably will feel right at home with the landscapes explored on this production.

Olav M. Björnsen, March 2026

Links:
https://www.rebelflute.com/
http://randallwoolf.com/
https://neumarecords.org/

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