Available on: Label: New Focus Recordings Catalog Number: fcr169 UPC Code: 600116 6869 2 3 Release Date: September 9, 2016 Album Artist: TAK Ensemble Genres: Classical
Premiere City: New York Premiere Venue: University Settlement Premiere Date: 9 Nov 2015 Premiere Performer / Ensemble / Presenter: TAK Ensemble
Amalgam was written for TAK in the summer of 2015. Amalgam focuses on orchestration, or more precisely, the mixture and unification of the instrumental forces into one unit. This idea of amalgamation through orchestration is approached in two ways. The first approach aims at fusion, building up a complex form of unison playing, matching frequencies, rhythms, and timbres to create a unified monophonic texture. This extended unison is developed throughout the first large section of the piece. The second half of the piece explores heterophonic textures: a unison line created by the combination of different elements from by different instruments. Instead of true unison and monophony, fusion through connected and contrasting instrumental lines is the goal.