listen (mp3)

i.(4:22), ii.(2:44), iii.(0:44), iv.(1:49), v.(3:27), vi.(1:49), vii.(0:57), viii.(1:28), ix.(2:42)

Wedge Miniatures for oboe/English horn and piano

2007, 18 minutes

Commissioned by Sally Wall

I. Here's the Wedge
II. Make your Wedge murmur
III. Deconstruct your Wedge
IV. The Wedge as seen from above
V. "Look Mom, a Hexachord!"
Very nice, Sally. Now, can you use its Complement?
VI. Wedge On Fire!
VII. I can make pretty chords with my Wedge...
VIII. ...and rip them apart
IX. The Wedge is my favorite toy

When I began Everybody's Going There, it was a piece for oboe and piano. As a result, a lot of the basic material was ill-suited for a recorder quartet, since a recorder quartet can play exactly four notes at once while a piano can play many more. As a result, I ended up either chopping out or truncating a lot of really good material that I didn't want to go to waste. So the material returns full circle, in a somewhat less-serious mood than EGT, to its roots in the oboe and the piano.

That fundamental material, which runs through both EGT and Wedge Miniatures is "the Wedge," a musical shape that looks a bit like an upside-down doorstop. I extract harmonies from it, and run it through all sorts of transformations and permutations thoughout Wedge Miniatures until by the last movement, it is barely recognizable.

All but the 5th and 7th movements are performed by Sally Wall (oboe and English horn) and Eriko Nagai (piano). The 5th and 7th are performed by Samuel Andreyev (oboe and English horn) and Hyun Hwa Cho (piano).

Scores

If you are interested in a score and parts for the Wedge Miniatures, please contact Nissim.

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Performances

June 29, 2007: Movements 3, 5, and 7 were played by Samuel Andreyev (oboe) and Hyun Hwa Cho (piano) at the Espace François Mauriac in Sevran, France, a suburb of Paris
March 12, 2008: Entire work premiered by Sally Wall (oboe/English horn) and Eriko Nagai (piano) at the Staller Center for the Performing Arts in Stony Brook, NY
March 14, 2008: Performed by Sally Wall (oboe/English horn) and Eriko Nagai (piano) at the Staller Center for the Performing Arts in Stony Brook, NY