SKYRIDING, 1992

Duration, 14 minutes

Flute, violin, cello, piano

MOVEMENTS:

Riding The Easy Five Mile Sluice

Jinn Song

Hard Knock Jam

Along with the development of pitch sets in each movement of this work, a definite attention was given to the use of transparent textures, almost in the style of Mozart. In addition, the first movement, Riding The Easy Five Mile Sluice, was planned according to a formula of combining notes that was inspired by James Gleick’s book, Chaos. In the book, analysis of types of turbulence showed the predominantly predictable nature and yet sometime chaotic moments of, for instance, the motion of water through a pipe or of wind currents in a tunnel. It also stated that ... "the attracting pull of four points ... creates basins of attractions. ...But each particle does not move independently - its motion depends very much on the motion of its neighbors - and in a smooth flow, the degrees of freedom can be few". These formulae of motion through space seemed quite applicable to the sound-motion of music. Interestingly, as the music was developing, it reminded me of water flowing gently but always continuously down a mountain sluice, turning, sometimes very quickly, in new directions as the sluice turns (sometimes sharply) to skirt natural obstructions. The pitch materials, however, seemed to create an unearthly atmosphere. Thus, the movement began to sound to me like a water ride in a celestial amusement park. In this supernatural setting, the jinn (mythological spirits that influence mankind for good and evil) would sing their simple Jinn Song accompanied by flute and guitar, while the Hard Knock Jam, with its percussive hammering and persistent beat, would be music rollicking in a cabaret set.

on Centaur Records, 1993 - CRC 2138

Performances:

WCLV, 9/19/98, (part of an hour program of her music aired nationally via the Internet)

WCLV, 3/28/98, (part of an hour program of her music aired nationally via the Internet)

Cleveland Composers Guild, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, 6/24/98

League of Composers/ISCM,, Merkin Concert Hall, New York, NY, 5/13/98

Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, Auer Concert Hall, Ind. U, IN 4/17/98

Cleveland Chamber Collective, Cleveland, OH, 5/23/97

CIM Contemporary Music Ensemble, Cleveland, OH, 11/22/96

Bennington Chamber Music Conference and Composers Forum of the East, Bennington, VT, 8/14/96

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music Of Our Time, New York, NY, 4/29/96

Pone ensemble, New Paltz, 4/19/96

Memphis State New Music Festival, Memphis, TN, 3/25/94

Capital Composers Alliance, Washington, D.C., 3/23/94

Contemporary Music Forum, Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C., 10/7/93

Florida State University New Music Festival, Tallahassee, FL, 4/16/93

Currents (Richmond New Music Ensemble), Columbia University, New York, 2/9/93

CD, 20th Century Consort, Centaur Records, 2/93

Sonoklect, Lexington, VA, 5/3/92