FLYER
Allan Crossman
About this work:
FLYER, for cello solo and string ensemble, was completed just in time for the centenary of powered flight in 2003. Some of the sketches were actually made at Kitty Hawk, NC, where the Wright Brothers first flew the plane they called Flyer, an astounding feat of vision and engineering. The piece sets out to create possible sensations of being the first to fly – weightlessness, wonder, danger, ecstasy…in other words, sensations of launching oneself into parts unknown. Many of the figures played by the ensemble may suggest the wind in all its unpredictability, with the cello solo piloting through it, countering it, reading it, riding it. In the score, an entire section of these figures appears as designs rather than as traditional notation. And as you hear, some passages leave behind the physical act of flying and enter into the pure, spiritual experience of flight. The composition is dedicated to the American cellist, Nina Flyer.
Year composed: 2003
Duration: 00:11:00
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble
Instrumentation:
Instrumentation notes: for string orchestra/ensemble and cello solo