AUROLUCENT ECHOES, 1985

Duration, 11 minutes

Solo harp, echo harp, violin, violia, cello, 2 percussionists

My ideal in writing AUROLUCENT ECHOS was to create shining sounds. In musical terms one would say ringing or resonate sounds, but in my mind many parts of this work shine and glisten. The instruments were chosen for the ringing sounds they could produce, and the harmonic language which I have used utilizes intervals, predominantly a system of superimposed thirds, that resonate well because of their relationships to one another in the overtone series. I hoped by the use of proportional (non-metered) notation to give a feeling of the spontaneity of nature. Individual sounds occur seemingly with no exact ordering, like tiny candles floating on a dark river, each flickering brightly occasionally as the breeze touches it. The overall design follows the cyclical order of nature - an arch form which returns full circle to where it began, even though, in the piece, mutations of the original interval plan create a different viewpoint at the end.

While searching for an appropriate title, I thought of the word aurora which in Classical Mythology means dawn but which also refers to an electrical atmospheric phenomenon consisting of luminous meteoric streamers, bands, curtains, and arcs of light in the night sky. "Aurora" seems to fit perfectly. There are sounds that seem like the early morning light glistening on the mist to me, and also the colorful sounds of luminous lights in the night sky which begin as tiny distant sparks, but, as they come closer, explode into flashing fireworks-like streams and arcs of light going in every direction. Instrument echoing instrument and especially the echo harp echoing the solo harp is a strong structural feature. The harps are placed so that sounds echo from one side of the stage to the other creating the aural effect of streamers and arcs of light in the night sky.

On Opus One LP, 1988

Performances

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 10/14/87

Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble,Chicago, IL, 11/15/86

Midwest Composers' Symposium, Bloomington, IN, 4/5/86

Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2/25/86