Bioplasm (quartet)

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

• Audio: Reference recording. Stranded Silver
• Audio CD: Los Angeles Flute Quartet

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

• Count to Ten (Adaptable Band) (2021)
• Kitchen Sync (Adaptable Band) (2021)
• Kitchen Sync. See also: Suite Treats
• Passages (Adaptable Band) (2020)

All Wind Works

• Ascent (2020)
• Beneath. See: Immersion (2010)
• Bioplasm (flute choir) (2004/2012)
• Bioplasm (flute quartet) (2004)
• Breathe (2020)
• Count to Ten (Adaptable Band) (2021)
• Depth. See: Immersion
• Even Deeper (2014)
• Free (2022)
• Homecoming (2008)
• Immersion (2010)
  • Depth (2011)
  • Surface (2011)
  • Beneath (2010)
• Kitchen Sync (Adaptable Band) (2021)
• Kitchen Sync. See also: Suite Treats
• Lights Out (2015)
• Liquid Compass (2014)
• Moment (2016)
• Off the Edge (2019)
• Paper Cut (2010)
• Passages (Adaptable Band) (2020)
• Pop Music (2022)
• Rock Music (2016)
• Surface. See: Immersion (2010)
• Suspended (2021)
  • Airborne (2021)
  • Distanced (2021)
  • Masked (2021)
  • Viral (2021)
• Tight Squeeze (2012)
• Train of Thought (sextet) (2015)
• Trains of Thought (concert band) (2015/2017)

Resources

• Alex Shapiro website Accessed 24 July 2021
• Perusal score
• Shapiro, A. (2004). Bioplasm: For Flute Quartet [score]. Activist Media: [Malibu, Calif.].