Bioplasm (quartet)

From Wind Repertory Project
Alex Shapiro

Alex Shapiro


General Info

Year: 2004
Duration: c. 12:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Activist Media
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $40.00; (digital) - $28.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo
C Flute
Alto Flute
Bass Flute


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

I named this piece Bioplasm because "Oozing Up From the Primordial Sludge" seemed a bit long for a title. Bioplasm is the stuff of life, the germinal matter that's essential for living beings to generate.

This is a squishy piece: rather than exploit the individual voice of each flute, I wanted to create an organism that oozes across the sonic floor as one tethered entity, sometimes slowly, sometimes at a quick pace, but always as one, like a Slinky toy. The blend of homogeneous sound with four flutes is a throbbing pulse of life; add to this human voices, and it's a choir of plasma, looking for life to begin.

One of my heroes of both life science and the human condition was Lewis Thomas, author of many marvelous essays about our fragile planet. I happened to be reading one of his books, Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony, as I began composing this piece at the MacDowell Colony in the fall of 2003, and reading his timeless observations moved me greatly. I dedicate this piece to his memory.

- Program Note by composer


Commissioned in 2003 by the California Association of Professional Music Teachers.

Bioplasm has been featured on many radio shows across the U.S., including WNYC-FM's New Sounds program, hosted by John Schaefer in New York City, and KUSC-FM's program, Modern Masterpieces, hosted by Alan Chapman in Los Angeles.

- Program Note from publisher


Award Winners

  • Music Teacher National Association, 2005


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • The Los Angeles Flute Quartet (Long Beach) – February 2004 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources