Rotations is a piece for clarinet and 8-channel live electronics.

Rotations

Pablo Tobar - clarinet

Pablo Tobar was a graduate student of mine during the 2021-22 school year. He is a fantastic performer and we were both motivated to collaborate to create a work for him to perform. During the spring of 2022, there were a few works of mine that were being newly performed and polished / finished. Those included “Shift-13” and “The Changing Light”. Putting the clarinet piece into the mix meant I had to work fairly quickly.

In addition to the simple idea of moving the clarinet around the circle of speakers at various rhythmic intervals, there is also a rather complicated system for associating harmonic space with the physical space. The clarinet rotates through these spaces simultaneously. The harmonic space is realized by appropriately pitch-shifting the clarinet.

Notating the multiphonics was (as always) an enlightening experience, and I glad to have Pablo there to share his intimate knowledge of the clarinet with me.

Rotations was performed at Channel Noise in the Spring of 2022 and also at Popayán, Colombia on September 1 of 2022.