Rites of Summer
Gordon Beeferman
About this work:
What comes after the Rite of Spring? Well, rites of summer, of course! And in the mind’s eye of a New Yorker, L.A. is the place of perpetual summer. When I started to think about writing this piece for the EAR Unit, I knew I didn’t want to write a dark, claustrophobic, stressful piece (that is, my New York state of mind). I wanted to write something sprawling, like L.A. itself, something that moves in gigantic strides, rather than piling microscopic details upon top of each other. In keeping with the “Rite” aspect, I imagined this piece as an imaginary ballet; what the magic action is or what it signifies I can’t suggest, but hope it conjures something up for everyone individually. Lastly, one New York thing did creep in, California fantasies to the contrary, and that is this: that summer certainly does end, suddenly and definitively.
Year composed: 2007
Duration: 00:25:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 6-9 players
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 1 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Violin, 1 Cello
Instrumentation notes: Flute doubles Picc
Percussion includes marimba, 2 timpani, bass drum, 2 tam-tams, slide whistle, 2 cymbals, snare drum, congas