FRANK STEMPER, COMPOSER
Blind (2001)
three pieces for flute and piano [29 mins.]
Premiered 28 October 2001at the Society of Composers, Inc. Region I Conference
University of Maine – Orono, by Elizabeth Downing, flute and Phillip Silver, piano
Also performed 7 April 2012 by Doug Worthen, flute & Yuko Kato, piano
on the New Music Circle "Frank Stemper—60th Birthday Concert" in St. Louis
Opus 43 — A.S.C.A.P. work I.D. 322530516
SCORE
University of Maine – Orono, by Elizabeth Downing, flute and Phillip Silver, piano
Also performed 7 April 2012 by Doug Worthen, flute & Yuko Kato, piano
on the New Music Circle "Frank Stemper—60th Birthday Concert" in St. Louis
Opus 43 — A.S.C.A.P. work I.D. 322530516
SCORE
NOTES:
This work is one of those pieces that just flew out of me, as if I had written it in my brain and just took that dictation and ran. All three pieces are challenging, and technically difficult for each of the players and for the duo ensemble. In a way, it is less modernistic than most of my stuff. There is a conservative pulsed rhythm, although the groves come and go, starting and stopping on a dime. Instead of being mysterious as to what is happening, it is easy to follow for the listener. The statements are always predictable, making sense simply, even though the players are often playing lickety-split. Even the harmony, although certainly not traditional, seems to follow “normal” paths. However, it is quite virtuosic, both technically and ensemble (duo). In addition it is an extended piece, almost a half-hour, calling on the endurance of the two performers as well as the listeners.
Unfortunately, the recordings of the two performances were lost in a flood — thus the computer recording.
This work is one of those pieces that just flew out of me, as if I had written it in my brain and just took that dictation and ran. All three pieces are challenging, and technically difficult for each of the players and for the duo ensemble. In a way, it is less modernistic than most of my stuff. There is a conservative pulsed rhythm, although the groves come and go, starting and stopping on a dime. Instead of being mysterious as to what is happening, it is easy to follow for the listener. The statements are always predictable, making sense simply, even though the players are often playing lickety-split. Even the harmony, although certainly not traditional, seems to follow “normal” paths. However, it is quite virtuosic, both technically and ensemble (duo). In addition it is an extended piece, almost a half-hour, calling on the endurance of the two performers as well as the listeners.
Unfortunately, the recordings of the two performances were lost in a flood — thus the computer recording.