Kvistad, Rick- Miles East for an indeterminate number of pitched and rhythm instruments (Digital Download)

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16704D
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Miles East for an indeterminate number of pitched and rhythm instruments, by Richard Kvistad, comes with two parts. Additional parts can be purchased for 5.00 each. 

A word from the composer about this piece:
 
"In C" by Terry Riley was the first I had heard of the concept which became known as "pattern music". For me the appeal was that the performers took part in creating the final version of the piece. 
As a musical composition, the patterns are a kind of road map that need to be completed in real time by the performers. I love that it encourages classically trained musicians to go beyond playing only what has been written. They can pick and choose when to change to a pattern that they feel is right for that moment. Also the listener is able to hear the music how ever they choose (or not choose), very much like staring at a drawing by M. C. Escher. I like to follow a melody based on what I choose to be the downbeat which soon may become an upbeat. The choice can then be made to stick with the upbeats or let them become the new downbeats. Sometimes it's good to let go of any attachment to the idea of a downbeat and just see where that takes you. This can be very liberating!

Print size: 11 x 17"

Review from Percussive Notes (2021):

Miles East
Richard Kvistad

“Miles East” is a process piece that leaves a number of factors up to the performers. There are four parts: high, low, timpani, and rhythm. The only specified instruments are timpani. Richard Kvistad offers suggestions for the high and low parts with everything from strings and bells to tuned pipes and tuned gongs. However, performers are encouraged to use their imaginations and available instruments to make it their own.

The parts consist of a number of different patterns that the players are to perform at least three times, but not enough to be “overbearing.” Towards the end, players are encouraged to perform patterns again in any order they choose, and are also encouraged to improvise their own patterns based around the given scales. Once all players reach the final pattern, they fade out to end the piece.

Kvistad has given us a piece in the same style as “in C” and captured it perfectly. These pieces do a great job of allowing the performers to become a part of the composing process, and lets the audience hear a new piece every time. “Miles East” would be appropriate for a graduate student recital. It will be really fun to see what performers come up with for the instrumentation on this work.

—Josh Armstrong

 

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