Omnivorous Furniture
American Composers Orchestra
About this work:
Omnivorous Furniture exists at the junction between a world of morphing electronic beats-generally described as electronic and the rich and varied textures of a chamber orchestra.
While these two musical spaces usually exist on opposite ends of the universe, my activities in both have convinced me of some pregnant possibilities. The thumping electronica beats of an underground club can provide an interesting stasis that an orchestra's myriad textures can explore. This can create thrilling possibilities when paired with the rhythmic contagion of electronica.
The work is organized around several "omnivorous moments," when material previously perceived as background-the wallpaper or "furniture" surrounding the foreground material-ultimately consumes the entire texture. The fleeting tune that opens the work, for example, is chased by a variety of pointillistic gestures that point the listener's attention away from any sustained notes. But these sustained notes in the orchestra begin to fuse together rapidly in the moments preceding the first climax, creating a sonic wall which shatters the beats that have dominated the first quarter of the piece.
The form of the work is quite simple: progressively longer orchestral interludes interrupt progressively shorter beat sections. Superimposed over this is the gradual elongation of the opening motive, from its bouncy first moments to its long, lyrical flowering in the work's core.
This melody, having reached 'its expressive peak during the orchestra's longest escape from the electronica beats, then begins to dissolve. Pulled lower and lower by sliding pitch, it collapses into the work's final ambient space in a kind of chemical meltdown of pitch and texture. Flowering imperceptibly from this surreal ambient landscape, a reincarnation of the work's opening material swiftly brings us to the end.
Version: Mason Bates
Year composed: 2005
Duration: 00:17:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Horn in F, 1 Trumpet, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Strings (General), 1 Harp, 1 Other Electronic Instument(s)
Instrumentation notes: Flute doubles piccolo, clarinet doubles e-flat clarinet, bassoon doubles contrabassoon.