Instrumentation: flute/piccolo, clarinet, bassoon, and four percussionists

Duration: 20:00

Commissioned by Stephanie Patterson

Premiered at the Iowa Celebration of Women Composers; University of Iowa; April 19, 2013

Notes: I composed Deployments in 2011-13 at the request of bassoonist Stephanie Patterson, who was interested in a piece that would challenge both concert performance conventions and audience expectations. During the course of the work the seven performers are deployed around the space in certain unexpected and changing ways which challenge their individual technical skills and abilities to work as an ensemble. They are also required to do things that they don’t normally do, such as clapping or sitting on the floor. The audience is an important factor in the overall arc of the composition. To reveal more would to be to spoil the surprise, but suffice it to say that I learned something important in writing this piece: there are a good reasons for the conventions of classical music performance, and thwarting these conventions is as much of a challenge for the composer as it is for the performers.

 

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