Isaiah 65 (1992)
(flute, oboe, e-flat clarinet, 3 trumpets, 2 pianos and 3 readers)
Approximate duration = 20 minutes
PDF Score
Live Performance, DePaul University Concert Hall, 1992
Program Notes:
Isaiah 65 refers to a chapter of the Old Testament, and from there the text to this piece is taken. I’m not sure that I would voluntarily use a Biblical text at this point in my life, even though I recently found out that my maternal grandmother was Jewish! Nor do I think I would try to compose in this style again. But at the time, I was exploring combining different sonic events, which I think of as sound sculptures, that happen repeatedly, and somewhat independently of each other. There is also my interest in long droney textures that evolve in dynamics instead of tonality, and just the plain weirdness of it all, especially when the conductor stops conducting and bangs some tone clusters on each of the dualing pianos. I guess, if you listen to this and end up asking yourself “What the fuck?”, then I succeeded.