Chain of Circumstances — modular work for symphonic winds
symphonic winds
variable (6:00-12:00)
March-June 2023
This is a transcription of the 2020 piano work Chain of Circumstances.
Andrew Trachsel, UNT Wind Orchestra
score (pdf)
recording (YouTube)
Recorded 19 October 2023: Andrew Trachsel, UNT Wind Orchestra; University of North Texas Murchison Performing Arts Center (Denton, TX).
As with other recent works of mine, Chain of Circumstances is an open-form composition that explores aspects of recombinance, modularity, and non-linear musical structures. The work is conceived as a series of disparate, distinctive, and relatively static musical states that provide an ever-changing sonic canvas. Originally for solo piano, this transcription of the work for symphonic band—created for Andrew Trachsel and the University of North Texas Wind Orchestra and completed in June of 2023—enhances the modular aspect of the work by expanding the timbral palette from the original and dividing the ensemble into five separate sub-groups, each of which is assigned one or two of the eight distinct musical modules that comprise the work. Unlike sections of a typical multi-movement work, these modules are often heard concurrently rather than sequentially—overlapping, interrupting one another, and recurring in various ways—resulting in a continuously shifting and recontextualized musical soundscape.
Chain of Circumstances was first performed on 19 October 2023 at the University of North Texas by Andrew Trachsel and the UNT Wind Orchestra