"... Move On The Colored Flood"
marc faris
About this work:
“...move on the colored flood” is a continuation of my recent ensemble work. I have been concerned lately with issues related to my own reception of recent American music – specifically, the “minimalist” movement, and Western rock and other popular forms. As I have stated before, I don’t necessarily feel that I am composing minimalist pieces or rock songs... but I have been attracted to many of the technical and emotive aspects of these musics. Much of my work has been informed by a desire to filter some of these ideas (i.e. rhythmic shifting, frequent doublings, austere structures that produce complex emotional responses, and so forth) through my own musical sensibilities, and “...move on the colored flood” is no exception. The unusual instrumentation of this piece, however, led to some new and unexpected results during the compositional process, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have written for this group.
The title of the work is drawn from the poem “Our Forward Shadows” by the late American poet May Swenson, whose work I have set before (in Facing (1999) for soprano and string quartet). While this work is not “based” on the poem in any explicable programmatic sense, Swenson’s poetry has always resonated deeply in me, and I feel that my piece shares a similar emotional space with her poem.
“...move on the colored flood” was written for the Chamber Music Conference and Composers’ Forum of the East, and was premiered in August 2001 at the Conference’s festival at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont.
Year composed: 2001
Duration: 00:06:30
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation: 1 Oboe, 1 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Double bass