flute/piccolo, Bb clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello
ca. 13 minutes • 3 movements
commissioned by the Inscape Chamber Orchestra
Listen:
About:
Get Up was written for four players in the Inscape Chamber Orchestra, one of the first new music groups I got to know when I moved to the DC area in 2008. I typically try to compose and title music in a way that is abstract enough to invite a wide spectrum of experiences and interpretations, and I think this piece is no exception. For me, Get Up is a piece that presents and struggles with various kinds of oppression. At times, the ensemble speaks with one voice, and at others, as individuals in a crowd. A listener might find this in the harmony, the contrasts between the types of sounds the instruments make, or even in the relentlessly repeating rhythmic patterns. Though Get Up contains no protest songs or specific references to political incidents, I think it is very much of its time in its quest to seek out common cause and change. The piece is in three movements:
1. Keeping On
2. Haze
3. Together
