0 items in your cart
Look Inside
_redacted_page_1.png)
_redacted_page_2.png)
_redacted_page_3.png)
_redacted_page_4.png)
Morton Subotnick
Parallel Lines
for solo piccolo with "ghost electronics" and nine players
solo piccolo, oboe, clarinet (bcl), trumpet, trombone, percussion, harp, viola, cello, electronics (1979)| Duration | 17' |
|---|---|
| Commission | Commissioned by Lawrence Trott and The Piccolo Society |
| Premiere | April 28, 1979; California Institute of the Arts; Lawrence Trott, piccolo • Morton Subotnick, conductor |
| Technical requirements | The electronics are in development and are currently not available with purchase. Contact the publisher for further details: info@eamdc.com • Macintosh computer (G3 or higher, OSX) required to operate software • Audio Interface (for audio In and Out) • 1 microphone • Stereo amplifier and two speakers • Ghost electronics software supplied on CD (copy software to computer hard drive) |
| Publisher | Schott Music |
Media
Program Note
Parallel Lines is one of Subotnick's "ghost" pieces for live soloist and electronics. The ghost series is a unique method of blending electronics with live performances so that the effect of the electronics is not audible unless the performer is making a sound. The electronic ghost score is a digital control system which activates an amplifier, a frequency shifter, and a location device. These process the instrumental sound according to the plan of each composition. The ghost electronics were made possible by a Creative Arts grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, and were designed by Donald Buchla to the composer's specifications and constructed by John Payne at the California Institute of the Arts. Other ghost pieces include Last Dream or the Beast for singer and tape, Liquid Strata for piano, The Wild Beasts for trombone and piano, Passages of the Beast for clarinet, and Two Life Histories for male voice and clarinet. The composer writes:
"Parallel Lines was commissioned by Laurence Trott and the Piccolo Society. The title has to do with the way in which the 'ghost' electronics interact with the piccolo. In previous 'ghost' pieces the electronics were used to produce an acoustic environment within which the solo manifested itself, but in this case the 'ghost' score is a parallel composition to the piccolo solo. The ghost score amplifies and shifts the frequency of the original non-amplified piccolo sound. The two ('ghost' and original piccolo sounds), like a pair of parallel lines, can never touch, no matter how quickly or intricately they move. "The work, a continuation of the butterfly-beast series, is divided into three large sections: (1) a perpetual-motion-like movement in which all parts play an equal role; (2) more visceral music, starting with the piccolo alone and leading to a pulsating 'crying out,' and (3) a return to the perpetual motion activity, but sweeter."
