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Clearly Glass (1998) Duration: 16' 00" - 23' 00" Instrumentation: flute, double bass, glassware instruments (4 players) Alternate Versions: Availability: from the composer Recordings: no commercial recording (archival recording available for audition) Program Notes: This work was written expressly for The Glass Orchestra ensemble of Toronto Canada. Upon first hearing The Glass Orchestra perform, I was struck by the spectacularly rich palette of sounds they produced. Like the conventional symphonic orchestra, whose wealth of sound spectra is uncontested, this ensemble truly deserves the word "orchestra" as part of their name. In writing Clearly Glass, I wanted to apply as much of their sound palette as possible without creating a piece that sounded too forced, busy or "spotty". Also, the use of the flute and double bass was approached as complementing the glassware instruments only, adding additional sonic color, rather than elevating these instruments into the spotlight as soloists. ". . . . . as complex as a symphony." (music critic John Fleming of the St. Petersburg Times.) " . . . . . Clearly Glass takes full advantage of the fragile arsenal of instruments and imaginatively adds to it a flute and bass. The result is a slow-moving kaleidoscope of tones that gently merge into riveting patterns." (music critic Tim Smith of the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.)First Performance: The Music Gallery in Toronto Canada (Nov 1998) by The Glass Orchestra (Eric Cadesky, Paul Hodge, John Puchiele, Richard Sacks). Other Performances: The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL (May 1999) with The Glass Orchestra. The Rubell Family Gallery in Miami, FL (May 1999) with The Glass Orchestra. |