THE VEINS OF MARBLE

Commissioned by the Nieuw Ensemble, Amsterdam.

Selected for ISCM WORLD MUSIC DAYS 2004 - Switzerland. Performed by La Nouvelle Ensemble Moderne, La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Pierre Monot conducting.

First performances -January 2000 Ed Spaanjard conducting, Den Haag, Amsterdam and Groningen.

for flute, oboe, clarinet, piano, mandonlin, guitar, harp, percussion, violin, viola, cello, dbass.

9:30 duration.

program notes

The twelve person ensemble is divided into three groups of four musicians each; the three winds and piano, mandolin/guitar/harp and percussion, and four strings. Furthermore, each group is confined to a musical material radically different from the other sub-groups. I have layered all three materials so they constantly float through one another; even though, as the title evokes, each musical material is rigid in its evolution, or path, similar to the hairline cracks of marble.

This piece is dedicated to The Nieuw Ensemble and Brian Ferneyhough.

composed 2000, La Jolla