Openings
William Susman
About this work:
The first performance of Openings was given at the University of Illinois in May 1982 with The Composer's Workshop Ensemble, William Susman conducting.
This work and others from his early period such as Exchanges (1982) and Movement for Orchestra (1981) use graph paper to layout the pitch material. The "music" on the graph paper are a series of lines representing pitch and duration much like a "piano roll" or the way a sequencer's piano roll view appears. He then, orchestrated the lines, giving them timbre, dynamics, and gesture.
Here Susman showed influences from Webern in his pointillistic gestures as well as Xenakis with a predominance of glissandi.
An interesting anecdote: In 1982, A short time before his graduate fellowship commenced at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), a Pulitzer prize-winning composer suggested that Openings may be better realized by a computer even though the work had several performances and was intended for chamber orchestra. It is worth noting that the Pulitzer prize has not always gone to the most forward looking composers.
Year composed: 1982
Duration: 00:20:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 10+ players
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 1 Horn in F, 1 Marimba, 1 Violin, 1 Cello, 1 Double bass, 1 Guitar (Classical/Acoustic)
Instrumentation notes: extended techniques, glissandi.