STAR CROSSING
for flute, clarinet, percussion and piano
Written: 1999
Duration: 9'
Instrumentation: flute (doubling piccolo and alto flute), B-flat clarinet (doubling B-flat bass clarinet), percussion (vibraphone [with working motor] and orchestra bells) and piano
Written for the Society for New Music as a result of winning the Brian Israel Prize
Winner of the 2001 Tampa Bay Composers Forum First Prize for Excellence in Chamber Music Composition
World Premiere: Society for New Music, May Memorial Church, Syracuse, NY, November 14, 1999.
Publisher: Bill Holab Music
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PROGRAM NOTE
Although I will probably never have an opportunity to travel through outer space, I often look up at the stars with wonderment, marveling at the vastness of the night sky, wishing I could have that experience. This work is my attempt to impart the sensation of what I think it might feel like to travel through the galaxy, and to give the feeling, through sound, of staring up at the star-filled sky on a quiet, clear night.
Press Quotes
“...a 10-minute evocation of outer space, in music by turns hypnotic, flashing and jittery, with some syncopated dancelike material as well. ”
“...a musical conversation between the piano and the rest of the instruments. Like many conversations, there are agreements and disagreements between parties, which hopefully conclude with a consensus among the group. And Paterson’s piece is exactly that. The players toss musical ideas back and forth until a driving unison section of repeated notes brings the discussion to a close — a fitting conclusion to the first half of the program.”
“...an offhandedly dazzling display of creepy, chilly Hitchcockian ambience, sepulchral woodwind flourishes and simple, seemingly random piano motifs against disembodied ringing tonalities. Although it’s meant to evoke an otherworldly, outer-space milieu, the tension is relentless.”
“While nothing in this pretty, lucid work is anything stereotypically “space” sounding, there is an other worldly feel to the writing helped by some very clever interchange between the winds and the vibraphone.”