Sparks and Feathers

for violin and interactive computer (max/msp/jitter)
composed 2010; duration 14 minutes
world premiere october 26 2010
Interactive Soloist Series, New York University Steinhardt (USA)
commissioned by New York University Steinhardt, premiered by Patti Kilroy

The work opens with fast and virtuoso playing in constantly changing compound meters, intercepted by smooth chordal arpeggios and staccato double-stops. Even though the energy and concentration is high, the overall character of the first part is light and delicate. The second part is heavy and rich, with most of the playing on 3rd and 4th strings. The melodic range is quite narrow, and the tonality makes frequent use of turns and twist of minor and major seconds. The computer part makes use of spectral ‘snapshots’, transformed and effect processed by player interaction. Running histograms keeps track of performance details, as well as note duration and tonality distribution.

Decision on key score features relating to common emotion recognition in music was made on basis of the guidelines provided by the emoter-composer compositional tool.

List of Works

Categories

Score
Interactive
Amateur
Solo
Installations
Sound art
Chamber music
Stage music
Orchestra
Chamber orchestra

Laptop
Vocal
Choir
Keyboard
Brass
Woodwind
String
Percussion