"Especially impressive was the other piece here: Sebastian Currier's "Static (2003)." On the heels of Copland, Mr. Currier's six movements slowed our musical clocks to the speed of a passing cloud. Chords drone, decorated by flute, clarinet and piano figures. There are occasional frantic outbursts, but more characteristic is long, ardent melody in unison playing against florid birdcalls from the piano................"Static" shows a delicate ear for sound colors achieved by simple combinations; they do more with less. This is music with a distinctive voice." -New York Times |
Program Note
It could be some sort of Rorschach’s test: what do you think of when you read the word "static?" Is it of something unchanging and in a state of equilibrium? Or is it of the erratic white noise that interferes with a radio signal? Both these divergent meanings relate to certain aspects of my piece, which, with it's six movements of varying tempo and character, still retains vestiges of a sonata cycle (Remote, Ethereal, Bipolar, Resonant, Charged, Floating). The slow, distant, wave-like chords that open the piece suggest an interior landscape that is inert and unchanging. This gesture becomes a motive throughout the piece, heard or felt in almost every movement. As early as the second movement traces of the other "static" emerge. This musical interference takes several forms, but one of the most characteristic is where string trills are played in harmonics, paired with changes in bow pressure and placement, which causes various harmonics to stand out in a constantly changing and random fashion. In the fourth movement (Resonant) the irregular,unpatterned ornamental gestures in the piano create a static of sorts against the long lines in the strings. In the third movement (Bipolar) the juxtaposition is most pronounced. The movement consists of a long held static chord which is abruptly interrupted by a rough, chaotic and intense passage (radio static with a vengeance!) which almost as abruptly ends, leaving the static chord once again in the wake of its turbulence. The fifth movement (Charged) defines the arc of the piece as a whole, dividing it into before and after. Although the material is drawn from earlier movements, this movement stands out from the others both because of its sustained intensity (the other movements in general tend towards quietude) and because of its substitution of flute and clarinet with piccolo and bass clarinet. In the last movement (Floating) material from other movements return- not so much with a feeling of formal closure or recapitulation, but as disembodied fragments of memory that float by, emerging out of an ethereal static, which gains ever increasing prominence as the movement progresses. Static was written for Music from Copland House, which was made possible by a commission from Meet the Composer. It was premiered at Miller Theater in New York in February, 2005. |