Instrumentation: 2+pic.2+ca.2+ebcl.2+cbn/4.3.3.1/timp.3perc.hrp.pf/strings
Length: 9 minutes
Composed: 2020

Program Note: Deadweight is built from a small number of distinct sonic objects. These sonic objects consist of short “samples” taken from some of my favorite orchestral works, including pieces by Debussy, Beethoven, Holst, Stravinsky, Ravel, Shostakovich, Mussorgsky, Messiaen, Gershwin, and more. These snippets are so short that they are not meant to be heard as quotations, but more as distinct orchestral colors that nonetheless bear a bit of the weight of their historic origins.

Each of these orchestral “found objects” is paired with a specific noisy percussion color or rhythmic character. These two opposite poles of noise and harmony begin unified, but eventually separate and achieve an existence independent of each other. Later, more original material is heard, slowly emerging from beneath the immense weight of the symphonic tradition. Roles are reversed, as the percussion instruments carry the melody and harmony and the strings act as a makeshift percussion section. In the end, the orchestra’s valiant attempts to push into new expressive realms fail, and the piece evaporates into thin air.