Sonora

I composed Sonora after a long period of collaboration, exploration and experimentation with Zach Sheets and Vicente Alexim. My goal was to find a handful of unusual and contrasting sonic objects with Zach and Vicente, and then arrange them in a viscerally engaging way. Loud, aggressive gestures contrast with delicate micropolyphony, sustained multiphonics and colorful timbral trills.

Because there are only a handful of sonic objects that come and go at different rates, the work is inherently cyclical or rotational. Many of the objects themselves are also rapidly repeated to mimic this cyclicality on a very small scale, particularly the microtonal glissandi in the flute and double trills in the clarinet. By continually developing and varying these objects and their relationships to each other, I discovered some fascinating musical structures that at times resemble sonic tessellations, at other times sound like obsessive, repetitive musical fragments or even peaceful mantric repetitions.

Sonora is dedicated to Zach and Vicente.