Landscapes

I. Ponderousing
II. Gurburbling
III. Fliglimmer
IV. Tumdrumbling

flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion
(2004)
13 minutes

Premiered by:
Ashleigh Leas, flute
Lou DeMartino, clarinet/bass clarinet
Kyra Davies, violin
Jennifer Humphreys, cello
Seth Rowoldt, percussion
Dan Sedgwick, piano
Craig Hauschildt, conductor

October 31, 2004 - Houston, TX

listen (mov. III)
(California E.A.R. Unit - reading)

About the piece:

When I was growing up, my parents took me on several hiking and backpacking trips through the High Sierra country.  I fell in love with the beautiful landscapes—the broad vistas,  gurgling streams and strange mountainsides of boulders.  Landscapes takes some of the visual images I have of the Sierras as the starting point for my musical ideas. The first movement alternates slow piano and vibraphone arpeggios, rising and falling as if they were tracing the ridge of a mountain range, with high melodies in the flute, clarinet and violin.  The second movement is fast and unpredictable like flowing water and features a particularly acrobatic marimba part   Underneath the third movement’s slow exterior is a flickering energy which erupts in the middle of the movement.  This restrained sort of energy suggests to me the time of day right before dusk. The fourth movement is quick and energetic and calls to my mind images of cascading streams and waterfalls.  Hopefully the names of each of the movements will be onomatopoeically self-explanatory.