Flurry

soprano saxophone and two-channel fixed media
2006
Duration 9’00”

Flurry is a work for soprano saxophone and electro-acoustic music.  The title, chosen for its dual meaning of a light snowfall or a sudden stirring up of activity, depicts several aspects of the work.  I moved to Champaign, IL to work on my doctorate after spending seven years in Florida and Texas.  Having been raised in Pennsylvania, my first Illinois winter brought back many vivid childhood memories that led me to realize how much I had missed the season while living in the south.  This work is meant to convey the feelings, emotions, and moods associated with my memories of winters past: from playing in the snow, to howling blizzards, to walks through desolate and lonely snow-covered fields.  The main melodic ideas are a falling sigh motive and a contrasting gesture built on a rising arpeggio which are continually developed, combined, and transformed into one another throughout the work.  The title alludes to the way in which these ideas often spark a sudden burst of related activity in the electronic part.  

Flurry was jointly commissioned by ASACAP and SEAMUS and was premiered on March 30th 2006 at the SEAMUS National Conference by Michael Holmes.


Listen to Flurry performed by saxophonist Michael Holmes.



view a score excerpt

Recorded on:
                    
                              Music from Seamus Volume 16 (2007)






                           
                             World Without Words: Debra Richtmeyer and the University of Illinois Saxophone Studio, Mark 
                             Records (2009)


http://www.michaelholmesmusic.com/http://edmartincomposer.com/pdf_scores/Flurry_Sample.pdfshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1
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Saxophonist Michael Holmes performing Flurry at the 15th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival at the University of Florida in April 2008.
 
 
Saxophonist Ida Toninato performing Flurry at ICMC 2009 in Montreal in August 2009.
 
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