From the Shadows They Dance: Daniel McCarter (b. 1976)
From the Shadows They Dance was inspired during a late night walk through Ithaca, NY. The orange and blue hues from the streetlights cast overlapping shadows that seemed to move as I walked past. I imagined their music growing as I walked closer to each light and fading as I walked away. Soon, the shadows freed themselves and took human form, circling and undulating to the music. The piece begins with a portrait of that warm spring night, with echoes of the dancers. Distant figures move in and out of view as the beat grows ever clearer. The observer flees the approaching shadows, who soon give chase. After a struggle, the dancing shadows surround and overwhelm the observer who, after resistance, joins the dance.
Instrumentation:
piccolo
2 flutes
2 oboes
English horn
2 clarinets
bass clarinet
2 bassoons
contrabassoon
4 horns
3 trumpets
2 trombones
bass trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion I (glass wind chimes, 4 tom-toms, suspended cymbal, field snare drum,
egg shaker, claves)
percussion II (cabasa, tam-tam, bass drum, field snare drum, 4 tom-toms, suspended cymbal)
piano
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
contrabass
Pange Lingua (Washington Avenue): Daniel McCarter
This setting for organ of the traditional Pange Lingua chant opens with a simple transcription of the melody which flows into a three-voice setting in a quasi-Sixteenth Century counterpoint. From there, the work moves into a fiery interpretation of the chant that recalls some of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.
Instrumentation: solo organ
From the Shadows They Dance was inspired during a late night walk through Ithaca, NY. The orange and blue hues from the streetlights cast overlapping shadows that seemed to move as I walked past. I imagined their music growing as I walked closer to each light and fading as I walked away. Soon, the shadows freed themselves and took human form, circling and undulating to the music. The piece begins with a portrait of that warm spring night, with echoes of the dancers. Distant figures move in and out of view as the beat grows ever clearer. The observer flees the approaching shadows, who soon give chase. After a struggle, the dancing shadows surround and overwhelm the observer who, after resistance, joins the dance.
Instrumentation:
piccolo
2 flutes
2 oboes
English horn
2 clarinets
bass clarinet
2 bassoons
contrabassoon
4 horns
3 trumpets
2 trombones
bass trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion I (glass wind chimes, 4 tom-toms, suspended cymbal, field snare drum,
egg shaker, claves)
percussion II (cabasa, tam-tam, bass drum, field snare drum, 4 tom-toms, suspended cymbal)
piano
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
contrabass
Pange Lingua (Washington Avenue): Daniel McCarter
This setting for organ of the traditional Pange Lingua chant opens with a simple transcription of the melody which flows into a three-voice setting in a quasi-Sixteenth Century counterpoint. From there, the work moves into a fiery interpretation of the chant that recalls some of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.
Instrumentation: solo organ