GO (octet version)
fl, cl, vln, vcl, perc, pno, bs gtr
Duration: 10:30
Date of Composition: 1997
PROGRAM NOTES:
Go was composed during July 1997 for the Los Angeles-based ensemble, E.A.R. Unit. It is a kind of West Coast cousin to Don’t Stop, which was written in 1995 for the East Coast ensemble, the Bang On A Can All Stars. Both pieces are of about 10 minutes duration and have a discernible relationship to rhythms in rock music; they are, however, quite different in many ways from instrumentation to the musical materials employed.
For the most part, Go verges on atonality – or, perhaps I should say, neo-tonality to the point of no tonality. There are virtually no cadences (stopping-off places) until the very end. In fact, one of the primary compositional problems I wrestled with in working out the form was how to get Go to stop! There occurred in the work a degree of momentum that searches in vain (like freeway driving in L.A.) for a rest area. But even at such a fast speed, there are perceptible changes of musical scenery, the violin or piano prominent here, the drums prominent there. In the big picture, Go falls into two large sections, the second being a re-composition, or alternate view of the first: the same drive at different times of the day. Near the end. A coda sneaks in – an exit ramp: one must sooner or later reach a destination.
James Sellars
Hartford, Connecticut - 1997