(2012) for trumpet, container of light and electronics, 6’
instrumentation: trumpet + container of light (2nd player) + fixed media audio playback
Golden Sparrow (2012) uses a recording of the characteristic song of the sparrow variety living in Alaska’s Chugach State Park. This call was an important part of the spring soundscape of my
childhood in the Chugach mountains. The piece begins with the unaltered recorded sparrow. The electronic part was created by time stretching this sample to 100 times its original length. This micro song becomes a gentle harmonic accompaniment over which the trumpet plays a newly composed melody. The trumpet is positioned off stage or outside the concert space. I imagine it in the evening Alaska sun. Like a sonic beacon, the trumpet metaphorically reflects the sun's rays, channeling them into the concert hall as beams of sound. A performer on the stage listens for the trumpet sound and gradually opens a container of light, releasing the light into the concert space in a theatrical ritual. The piece was composed for Glen Whitehead for EcoSono’s Alaska concert on June 23, 2012 and was premiered by Glen Whitehead (trumpet) and Lori-May Orillo (light). MB
Golden Sparrow (2012)
Performance materials include a PDF score and electronic backing track.