Echolocator

flute, alto sax, percussion, piano, violin, viola

10'

 

2017

Commissioned by The Walden School Faculty Commissioning Project

Premiered by International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), July 12, 2017, The Walden School, Dublin, NH

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Echolocator is a loose transcription of a field recording I made at the disused quarry in DePauw University’s Nature Park. It was February. It was windy, cold, and sunny. The winter coating of ice on the quarry walls was melting and cracking in the sun. My transcription of the recording sometimes reproduces its sounds as faithfully as this sextet of acoustic instruments can. At other times it abstracts the sounds, imagining relationships among them that reflect elements of human culture – counterpoint, for example. When I moved to Indiana in 2016 to teach at DePauw, the Nature Park became a place I went regularly to explore and listen. Observing this environment through the seasons and learning its patterns and quirks helped me feel grounded in a new place.