Treadmill
Armando Bayolo
About this work:
The idea behind Treadmill arose some time ago while exercising at one of the University of Michigan’s three gyms. While riding an exercise bike I came to the realization that I, along with my fellow stationary bikers, walkers and stair climbers, was expending a great deal of energy without it resulting in much motion. In other words, we were all going nowhere very fast. This realization was made all the more interesting to me by the minimalist music playing through my headphones (I find minimalism to be far more ideal to the task of aerobic exercise than the rock music traditionally piped through a gym’s P.A. system). Treadmill is thus my attempt to musically depict the absurdity of going nowhere fast as displayed in America’s gyms. The material for the work, therefore, is extremely simple, consisting of a single chord repeated and varied at a moderately quick tempo and transposed up a half step when the tempo increases in the final section.
Treadmill was originally written for wind ensemble and is the third and final movement of Fanfares, commissioned by the University of Oregon Wind Ensemble, Robert Ponto, Music Director, in the winter of 2004. The orchestral version was realized in July, 2004.
(Please see "Fanfares" for a score and audio sample of this work.)
Version: Orchestral version
Year composed: 2004
Duration: 00:05:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 2 Flute, 1 English Horn, 1 Bass Clarinet, 1 Contrabassoon, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 1 Piano, 1 Strings (General), 1 Harp
Instrumentation notes: This is an orchestral arrangement of a work originally scored for wind ensemble and included as the last of the pieces in the suite titled "Fanfares." You can hear the original version of this piece and peruse the score on this site.