Cold (2011) 15'

program note

‘the world is covered with ice and all of the earth’s infrastructure has been destroyed. human beings have returned to a nomadic lifestyle, living in hot suits that allow them to keep their body temperature warm. it is no longer possible to play musical instruments and in fact it is difficult even to move fingers. a new kind of music has been created by amplifying the hearts and nervous systems of individuals and then choreographing the movements of the participants to create an orchestral sound. the greatest virtuosi are those who are able to control the rate and beating of their body systems.’

I wrote Cold for Ensemble Modern, a spectacular ensemble that features one of every instrument in the orchestra.

All those glorious instruments were made to play melodies and to harmonize together, and so I decided to strip away all of the elements that we think of as being musical. It was my aim, at the outset of the piece, to treat each instrument like a drum that played a single note over and over again. Through this method I imagined that the melodies, harmonies and emotion that make music warm would be eliminated. What would be left would be cold music. I think of Cold as being devoid of these musical elements in order to bring on other sounds and visions, like going out into the tundra to clear one’s mind and experience the emptiness. Cold is part of the Cold, Dry, Dark trilogy.

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