Contents
1 Introduction
Thread Chorale is a series of compositions exploring two musical extremes. The first is extreme formalism. For each version of the composition, I select a handful of sounds for each instrument involved; a computer program then arranges those sounds into rigid "chorales," and generates their notation. The form of the chorales is identical in each version. The second is extreme quietness. The musicians play so quietly that their tone disintegrates; what appear on the page as homogenous tones become flickering noises at the threshold of perceptibility. An invisible, inaudible thread links the notation of each chorale to its music; the thread binds by unraveling.
2 Performance details
Hot Air/Tight Strings premiered Version 1 at Roulette on April 24, 2009.
- Flute: Kylie Collins
- Violin: Erica Ball
The Talea Ensemble premiered Version 2 at NYU on April 27, 2011.
- Flute: Tara Helen O'Connor
- Viola: Elizabeth Weisser
- Piano 1: Steve Beck
- Piano 2: Alex Lipowski
The following musicians premiered Version 3 at the Anne Goodman Recital Hall on April 10, 2011.
- Piano: Solon Gordon
- Double bass: Rebekah Griffin Greene
- Trombone: Terry Greene
- Violin: Jane Chung
- Cello: Hane Cords-O'Hara
3 Media
3.1 Version 1, for flute and violin
Please note that the recording is similar but not identical to the graphic score and staff notation, which I revised after the performance.