DUMUZI: for Morton Subotnick
Nicholas Chase
About this work:
Dumuzi: for Morton Subotnick (world premiere)
I: Slain, the Wild Bull- Dumuzi
II: Stasis and Transformation: Emergence
III: Accidental Butterflies
There isn’t much I can say about Morton Subotnick’s early electronic works other than that they are beautiful, shocking and after thirty-odd years, seem to maintain their uncompromising invention. Though the text, taken from the poem originally published with the release of Subotnick’s The Wild Bull (though never set by Subotnick himself) and title suggest the subject of The Wild Bull, I’ve chosen to emphasize Subotnick’s much loved butterfly metaphor in Dumuzi, moving from the earthbound (bull) in the first movement to the airborne (butterfly) by the third. The third movement, consists of four subdivided sections, personifying aspects of the emerging butterfly and recalling Subotnick’s Four Butterflies (which also acts as source material for the second movement):
i: Slow Butterfly
ii: Sudden Butterfly
iii: Accidental Butterfly
iv: Wild Butterflies
Dumuzi is inspired by a quip Mort made to me after the premiere of OPUS in May, 2002. He said, “Hey, kid, why don’t you take a bunch of my old albums and mix ‘em up?!” That is precisely what I have done in Dumuzi
The three movements (and third with subdivisions) are performed consecutively without break in between.
Version: 2
Year composed: 2003
Duration: 00:25:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation: 1 Piano,1 Piano soloist(s), 1 Violin, 1 Cello, 2 Soprano, 1 Prerecorded Sound (Tape/CD/Other), 1 Computer/Laptop, 2 Turntable(s)
Instrumentation notes: For ensemble and pre-recorded 4-channel tape. Violin and Cello parts can be exchanged with vocal parts.