Breathless
Steven Winteregg
About this work:
The name, Breathless, is derived from an idea that the composer had for an orchestra piece that was constantly moving with very little "breathing spaces." As the piece evolved, however, it seemed to feature two types of events that leave us 'breathless:" rapid movement and the encounter of beauty. Consequently the whole piece ends up being a “tug of war” between the ideas of speed and beauty. It is somewhat reminiscent of a roller coaster ride...always moving but with the beautiful vistas of the high points sometimes overshadowing the speed.
The whole piece is built around the relationship of four notes, a whole step and an half step separated by the interval of a major third. Much of the melodic and harmonic material is derived from this single four-note cell. This cell has an inherent "blues feel" to it that comes out both melodically and harmonically. In fact, the composition could be subtitled A Blue Toccata, since it contains both the elements of a perpetuum mobile toccata as well as hints of jazz.
Published by MMB Music, St. Louis, MO
Year composed: 1997
Duration: 00:05:45
Ensemble type: Orchestra
Instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 2 Flute, 2 Oboe, 1 English Horn, 2 Clarinet, 1 Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 1 Contrabassoon, 4 Horn in F, 3 Trumpet, 3 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 3 Percussion (General), 2 Violin, 2 Harp
Instrumentation notes: Harp 2 is optional. Instrumentation fits Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra."