Brian Johnson plays Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra by Alvin Lucier

Alvin Lucier wrote "Silver Streetcar for the Orchestra" for Brian Johnson and it was premiered at the New Music America Festival in Miami in 1987. Johnson has performed it many times, and percussionists throughout the world now perform the piece. Johnson writes, "I had frequently 'reminded' Alvin of my request for a percussion piece and one day he called to say,'I have your piece'. I drove to his home in Middletown and he proceeded to describe the piece to me. The score was a verbal one; it explores the acoustical properties of the metal bar by manipulating five facets of sound-making on the triangle: stroke tempo, location, dynamics, degree of damping, and location of damping. The player is to alter one facet at a time until the sound is perceived to have changed, then dwell on the new sound for a short time, and go on to another facet until that changes. I'll always remember thinking that a definition of genius is the ability to make the most from the least."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• minimal
• minimalism
• minimalist
• new music
• nonpop
• Alvin Lucier
• Brian Johnson
• Vermont
• FlynnSpace
• classical
• triangle
• monotone