midSummer
Nissim Schaul
About this work:
midSummer is one of those programmatic works that developed its story during composition, rather than beforehand. It is about a summer heat-wave, an oppressive and unyielding heat and humidity that on occasion will overtake my home town, Raleigh, North Carolina. When the coldest it gets all night is 85º (30 C), and that isn’t even a relief because the humidity increases at night into a wet density that makes it difficult to breath. It is this sense of slowness, of lethargy that the extreme and overwhelming heat causes that is here recreated. Hence, the work is static, moving very slowly and somewhat aimlessly.
Version: 2007 revision
Year composed: 2000
Duration: 00:16:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 2 Piccolo, 1 Flute, 3 Oboe, 3 Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 4 Horn in F, 3 Trumpet, 2 Trombone, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 3 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Celesta, 1 Strings (General), 1 Harp
Instrumentation notes: +1 piccolo player doubles flute
+there must be at least 6 violas
+there must be at least 4 double basses, at least one preferably with a C-extension