for String Quartet, Celesta, Harp, and Percussion
Instrumentation:
- Violin 1
- Violin 2
- Viola
- Cello
- Celesta (part may be played on a Piano an octave higher than written, not preferred but can act as a substitute)
- Harp
- Timpani (also plays suspended metal bars, optional but preferred)
- Glockenspiel
- Percussion (Suspended Cymbal, Large Gong, Triangle)
Program Notes:
Midnight Stasis was the first piece I was able to write after a four-month
long battle with the ever frustrating, creative process. In many ways it is a
culmination of the sounds I was hearing in my head at the time; what I wanted to hear. The string writing is heavily influenced by Brian Wilson’s string writing on the Beach Boys album “Pet Sounds,” the various percussion aspects are inspired by the visuals of night sky stars out of a glass window, and further, the whole feel of the piece is dark and brooding in a sense, like a noir film. All of these ideas, both visually and auditory came together fruitfully at midnight one day in the second week of December to create this piece, my comeback, for lack of a better word, to the creative world that I felt I was locked out of for four long, long months.
Performance Materials Available Directly from the Composer.