No 37 Waves 5 – 7 (2008)
For small, variable ensemble with live delay (Wave 6)
Commissioned by: Ensemble Klang, with financial support from the Netherlands Fund for the Performing Arts
First Performance: Ensemble Klang, February 15 2008, Theater Kikker, Utrecht
Instrumentation: 2 saxophones, 1 trombone, electric guitar, percussion & Ebow Piano
Duration: ca. 28’
Special Features: Performance requires stopwatch monitor on stage, sound engineer and amplification for all musicians. Piano part requires 5 Ebows.
Info/Program note:
Written in 2008 Waves 5 – 7 are part of a series of thirteen works which focus primarily on the research of vibration. These vibrations are the result of micro intervals, tuning and of the various spatial phenomena which can occur when amplified combinations of electrical, acoustic and electronic media interact. Each of the three movements is built around specific intervals and registers, which derive their material and velocity directly from the sympathetic vibration of the piano strings – activated through the use of five Ebows. Using fixed as well as quasi-free elements the musicians then respond to some of the possible harmonies resulting from this vibration. In this way, the musicians color and combine as the environment itself seems to dictate. Wave 5 deals primarily with intervals of a 5th in medium register, Wave 6 with minor seconds in high register and Wave 7 with major 3rds - gradually ascending from low to high.