Redirect, Redirected for solo trombone with flute, percussion, violin, and double bass
2011, 6-10 minutes
If you are not automatically redirected shortly... According to wikipedia, a redirect is "a page which has no content itself, but sends the reader to another article, section of an article, or page, usually from an alternative title."
Redirect, Redirected is a "pocket concerto" arrangement of Redirect, for solo trombone.
The title has several layers of meaning. To start with, it is an arrangement of another work, whose material has been redirected into the new sound world that the flute, percussion, violin, and bass provide. Next, when I wrote Redirect I didn't have much time to finish, so I used a theme that I had just used in an aborted attempt to write for violin and piano. (When I realized I didn't have time to finish what I had been working on, I started over and composed Something Else (Music for Sleeping through Winter), instead.) So the older material was redirected to another use.
More imporantly, though, the score itself is based on the idea of redirection. The theme is presented straightforwardly, but as variations follow, the trombonist is instructed to jump from variation to variation between each phrase. Basically, each double bar represents that webpage with no content but great meaning. Because a group imposes more limits on skipping than a solo instrument, the ensemble plays straight through, listening for key notes in the trombone part to change chord or effect. In both the trombone and the ensemble, each variation has its own process and tone color, so that it's easy to pick up both the connections and ruptures that emerge from the skipping around.
Finally, the title Redirect refers to the skips and jumps that characterize the musical material itself, which is constantly leaping in register. Which has led to a facetious subtitle: "Harder than Xenakis"
Scores
If you are interested in a score and parts for Redirect, Redirected, please contact Nissim. The percussion part requires vibraphone and snare drum.