Winds And Sines
Faye-Ellen1 Silverman
About this work:
THis piece won the Indiana State University [International] Composition Contest.
“Winds and Sines” is a work in one movement consisting of a slower and a faster section linked by a transition, preceded by an introduction and followed by a coda. Interrelationships exist among the various parts. Dedicated to my former teacher, Vladimir Ussachevsky, this composition draws materials from the two areas that held a permanent fascination for him: electronic music and the desert lands of Utah.
Association with the desert lore begins with the sounds heard in the opening measures, which use stone chimes, in the use of space (e.g. high piccolo and low pianp, creating huge expanses), and the various rustlings and runs suggested by experiences with desert winds. (Actually, the “winds” of the title has a double meaning, since it also stands for the prominent use of woodwinds in the fast section.)
Electronic music references are found in the slower section, where certain ideas are made to travel through various instruments, and where the low to high runs, terminating with a full chord, resemble the shape of a sawtooth wave. This whole section is built from a four measure idea (first stated in the clarinet) consisting of a musical representation of the sine wave. Having passed through several instruments singly or in limited doubling, it begins to be used in overlapping layers. The effect of this layering is similar to the electronic techniques of phase shifting, speed variation, and fragmentation of the material through tape cutting.
Near the end of the coda, there is a timbral reference to Ussachevsky’s use of solo horn and strings at the beginning of his “Intermezzo” (a work which this composer has performed as piano soloist.)
Year composed: 1981
Duration: 00:15:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 3 Flute, 3 Oboe, 3 Clarinet, 3 Bassoon, 4 Horn in F, 2 Trumpet, 2 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 1 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Strings (General), 1 Harp
Instrumentation notes: The percussionist can also play the timpani part (if union rules permit this).