Vedran Mehinovic - Magnetic Streams, part 2

Daniela Amodei - Flutes; Karl Spiker - Oboe, English Horn; Max Shrieve-Don - Clarinets; Lucy McLaurin - Bassoon; Syvie Soule - Horn. April 29, 2009.

The idea of experimenting with various speeds of pulsation in music came to me sometime in early 2008. During the summer of that year, I started reading a thick book of Nikola Teslas inventions and lectures, published in the late 19th century, and which I purchased in a Boston Barnes & Noble (for a ludicrously low price) a few years prior. In it I discovered the term polyphase, referring to Teslas electromagnetic motor, which utilizes time-offset electrical voltage (evenly spaced waves of current). I originally planned to write a mixed sextet, where Id employ this concept in music, but switched to a woodwind quintet since I viewed this combination as best suited to my intent, out of all the groups presented to me for the 2009 April in Santa Cruz festival. Shortly after beginning the piece in the fall of 2008, I came across an online article about the newly photographed aurora on Saturn. This phenomenon is significantly more extensive there than on Earth, and its creation seems to be a mystery. Since my quintet deals with varying vibration, which in my synesthetic mind also suggests texture and sometimes color, I thought Id incorporate the idea of the Saturn aurora into the piece as well. I also view the speeds of pulsation as waves of some plasmatic material, related to magnetism, and thus the title was born. Not the entire piece deals with shifting phases, but it is certainly rich in color and texture.

Email the composer at z1368z at yahoo dot com.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• magnetic
• streams
• woodwind
• quintet
• flute
• oboe
• clarinet
• bassoon
• horn
• avant
• garde
• new
• music