Ludwig Van Robot
(2015) 7:30
For String Orchestra
This piece was commissioned by Leif Bjaland and the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, Waterbury, CT. He asked that I write piece that could open the all-Beethoven concert for the WSO, and would allow the professional strings to play with the members of the WSO Youth Orchestra. So, while the piece was written for a professional-level string orchestra, there are parts that allows embryos to advanced players to join in - with the music and the choreography!
Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, opus 133, has intrigued musicians for almost two centuries. It was originally written as the final movement for the Opus 130 string quartet, but was “rejected” by the publishers as being “too enigmatic.” Beethoven agreed and rewrote the finale, leaving the Grosse Fuge as a separate entity. It has been described as impenetrable, enigmatic, and as a piece that will always be “contemporary music.”
The fugue is a form of composition that presents thematic subjects in layers, which have to be carefully constructed so as to fit together. In Ludwig Van Robot, the mathematical components of the fugue are spun out in an almost mechanical fashion – repetitive fragments (all based on the theme from Beethoven’s Opus 133) grow to form rhythmic and melodic gestures, which break down and rebuild. One can hear the “circuitry” of the musical blueprint, lines connecting to other lines, which move in and out of the listener’s foreground. The performers also are part of the mechanized presentation – their bowings, pizzicato pluckings, and other body movements present a kind of visual fugue – not unlike the waves that pass through the bleachers at athletic events (although here they are in slow motion).
String Orchestra:
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass
This piece has parts for younger players, who could join the more expert
string section. In each set, the professional parts are the first parts in each section (Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello 1, Contrabass 1)
(2015) 7:30
For String Orchestra
This piece was commissioned by Leif Bjaland and the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, Waterbury, CT. He asked that I write piece that could open the all-Beethoven concert for the WSO, and would allow the professional strings to play with the members of the WSO Youth Orchestra. So, while the piece was written for a professional-level string orchestra, there are parts that allows embryos to advanced players to join in - with the music and the choreography!
Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, opus 133, has intrigued musicians for almost two centuries. It was originally written as the final movement for the Opus 130 string quartet, but was “rejected” by the publishers as being “too enigmatic.” Beethoven agreed and rewrote the finale, leaving the Grosse Fuge as a separate entity. It has been described as impenetrable, enigmatic, and as a piece that will always be “contemporary music.”
The fugue is a form of composition that presents thematic subjects in layers, which have to be carefully constructed so as to fit together. In Ludwig Van Robot, the mathematical components of the fugue are spun out in an almost mechanical fashion – repetitive fragments (all based on the theme from Beethoven’s Opus 133) grow to form rhythmic and melodic gestures, which break down and rebuild. One can hear the “circuitry” of the musical blueprint, lines connecting to other lines, which move in and out of the listener’s foreground. The performers also are part of the mechanized presentation – their bowings, pizzicato pluckings, and other body movements present a kind of visual fugue – not unlike the waves that pass through the bleachers at athletic events (although here they are in slow motion).
String Orchestra:
Violin 1
Violin 2
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass
This piece has parts for younger players, who could join the more expert
string section. In each set, the professional parts are the first parts in each section (Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello 1, Contrabass 1)