Miniature for English Horn
Sally Reid
About this work:
The Miniature for Englilsh Horn and Tape (1984, resynthesized 1988) is one of six studies for soloist and digitally generated tape. (The others are for alto saxophone, trumpet in C, violin, piano and oboe.) In each the solo line appears against an electronic background derived from the melodic material of the solo combined with individual digital motives characteristic of the various electronic instruments. This miniature explores unusual register transfers and intervals for the English horn. The soloist responds to cues from the tape, placing the solo passages freely within the available sound spaces, often extending the gesture into the following tape expression. The result is a sort of sound sculpture, conceptually more present in space than in time.
The original realization of the work was done on the pre-MIDI, micro-computer based alphaSyntauri system, an eight-bit, multi-timbral system which utilized the sixteen digital oscillators of the Mountain Computer cards designed for use in Apple II microcomputers. The score was generated using a crude (by today's standards) first generation computer notation system which permitted graphic representation of taped events resembling traditional music notation, but in which passing time (rhythm) is represented spatially.
Version: English horn and electronics
Year composed: 1984
Duration: 00:05:00
Ensemble type: Electronic Instruments and Sound Sources:Prerecorded Sound and Live Instrument(s)
Instrumentation: 1 English Horn, 1 Prerecorded Sound (Tape/CD/Other)
Instrumentation notes: English horn and electronics (CD)