Stranger Dance

Stranger Dance contrasts two basic musical ideas. The first idea is based on a recording of a moan that has been slowed down to become thirty times longer than the original. A few seconds of this slowed down moan was used as a model (perhaps even a theme) for the music in a purely subjective and imprecise way — something closer to inspiration than transcription or transposition. This first section of the work explores this moan idea, through a duo between the flute and saxophone. The influences of the moan on the music itself result in the choice of pitches and use of slow glissandi as well as the lack of any steady pulse and abrupt changes in the texture. The second section features a prepared piano solo with the flute and clarinet performing an accompaniment of mainly multiphonics. The musical idea in this section is based upon rhythmic variations that function in reference to an ever-present rhythmic cycle. This idea is loosely based on rhythmic cadences (tihai) from Indian classical music. The preparations in the piano allow for complex rhythms and inharmonic timbres to sound from the performance of white-note runs in the octave above middle C. The third and final section of the work presents a synthesis of the first two sections, giving the overall form: A - B - A+B.