Flow

Instrumentation:  3+picc.2.3+bcl.2./0.2.1.1/4.3.4.2./Euph/T+4/String Bass
Duration:                 9 minutes
Year:                         2016

Audio Excerpt

Program Notes

In writing this piece for the University of Toronto Wind Symphony, I imagined the wind symphony as being a large extended organ that was capable of creating many layers of sound that move in and out of each other.  It was from this first concept that the idea of “Flow” became the central focus in my structural thinking.  From the quiet clusters that are heard in the beginning emerge large sound masses that ebb and grow.  Like a river which starts with a trickle, it turns into a series of rapids that converge into a larger body.  As the river reaches the mouth of the sea, the momentum finally gives way and we return to a slower flow, with the eventual dissipation of the sound into the silence.  The form of the piece follows this progression with some slight surprises in the journey.

The piece was written for the UTWS under the Composer-in-Residence program at the Faculty of Music.  Many thanks to Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds for his assistance during the workshop process.

Performance History

• Oct 22, 2016, University of Toronto Wind Symphony
  MacMillan Theatre, Toronto, ON
  Jeffrey Reynolds, conductor

• May 10, 2017, National Youth Band of Canada
  Rosemount High School, Montreal, QC
  Wendy McCallum, conductor

• May 11, 2017, National Youth Band of Canada
  Christchurch Cathedral, Montreal, QC
  Wendy McCallum, conductor

Scores and Parts

Please contact the composer here for score and/or part rentals.

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