ADJ•ective New Music •

Thalassa Phases

SKU: AN-014-CS
$24.00
$24.00
Unavailable
per item
Composer: Anne Neikirk

Duration: 6:00

Scoring: flute/bass flute and guitar

Materials: Score (9x12) and Set of Parts (9x12)​

————--
Are you interested in a digital version of this title?

Program Note

Thalassa Phases is written for Todd Holcomb and Wayla Chambo of Duo Thalassa, and dedicated to each of our children, Ethan, Ariella, and Philip. In approaching this piece, I spoke with both guitarist and flutist about topics for a new work. Three themes emerged that I have tried to synthesize together in this piece. One is the concept of “old meets new,” taken from the fact that both the flute and the guitar are instruments of antiquity who have stood the test of time into the modern era. Another is Thalassa, Goddess of the Sea, for whom the duo is named, and the third is the element that has brought the three of us closer together as musicians and friends: we all have young children roughly the same age. I employed a Renaissance technique called soggetto cavato, used by Josquin in the 16th century. It is a musical cryptogram whereby a melody can be derived from someone’s name by assigning a solfege syllable to each vowel in the name. I derived the opening melody this way from each of our three children’s full names, and set it as a chantlike cantus firmus. In keeping with using our children’s names in the work, I also looked for anagrams of their combined initials, and one of them was “Phases,” which has many musical implications. I took this as the basis of the development of the initial melody, and the remainder of the work weaves the melody in and out of phase between the two instruments in various presentations. The repetition is evocative of minimalism, again combining the “old meets new” by turning this Renaissance and Medieval inspired opening into a 1960s minimalist reference, as well as contemporary percussive techniques such as flute beat boxing. The last section paints a picture of ocean waves rolling in and out of phase with one another before the initial melody is restated once more in the new texture.
– Anne Neikirk
Reproduction Notice:
This program note may be freely reproduced in concert programs, provided that proper credit is given to the composer.