Symphony for the Body
instrumentation | Any combination of orchestral winds, brass, and strings with 2 percussion
date | 2018
duration | c. 15
premiere | March 18th, 2018 by Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony under Dr. Yi-Ping Chen as winner of the JMU New Music for Young Musicians Award 2018; read by American Composer's Orchestra at the 2019 Underwood New Music Reading
video | recorded by Boston Conservatory Composer's Orchestra
note | Dedicated to Pauline Oliveros
Symphony for the Body focuses on the player. The principles of individual choice and agency are core to compositional structure, while the natural rhythms of each performer are highlighted throughout the work. The graphic nature of the score encourages free interpretation of articulation, register, and timing. The piece works to deconstruct hierarchies within the orchestra, creating opportunities written in for each instrumental family to facilitate or lead a movement. Players are encouraged to individually choose key elements of music, such as register, duration, and pitch within comfortable parameters while utilizing the natural resonant qualities of the instruments themselves. Inspired from the work of Pauline Oliveros, Symphony for the Body is driven by the rise and fall of breath, communal listening, and a freedom to choose your own path through its seven movements.
date | 2018
duration | c. 15
premiere | March 18th, 2018 by Shenandoah Valley Youth Symphony under Dr. Yi-Ping Chen as winner of the JMU New Music for Young Musicians Award 2018; read by American Composer's Orchestra at the 2019 Underwood New Music Reading
video | recorded by Boston Conservatory Composer's Orchestra
note | Dedicated to Pauline Oliveros
Symphony for the Body focuses on the player. The principles of individual choice and agency are core to compositional structure, while the natural rhythms of each performer are highlighted throughout the work. The graphic nature of the score encourages free interpretation of articulation, register, and timing. The piece works to deconstruct hierarchies within the orchestra, creating opportunities written in for each instrumental family to facilitate or lead a movement. Players are encouraged to individually choose key elements of music, such as register, duration, and pitch within comfortable parameters while utilizing the natural resonant qualities of the instruments themselves. Inspired from the work of Pauline Oliveros, Symphony for the Body is driven by the rise and fall of breath, communal listening, and a freedom to choose your own path through its seven movements.