Wind Quintet Works

Six Minutes Thirty Seconds (1995)

The City winds performed this work many times in the 90s. Recently, Quintet Tabor had been playing it and clocked in with a timing of 6:29!

Composed for the City Winds this wind quintet was first performed in San Francisco at the Fort Mason Center in 1995. The City Winds subsequently took the work on their East Coast tour in the mid 90s.

The title "Six Minutes Thirty Seconds" refers to an approximate duration. If this piece is played at the tempi indicated in the score, it will last for roughly 6:30.

Time is an important if not the most important element in music. We shape sound through the passing of time.

It used to be a convention to indicate tempo through words such as moderato, allegro, or presto. As metronomes became popular two hundred years ago, one could be more exact about speed.

Ultimately, tempo markings such as a 1/4-note = 152 were equated with terms such as Allegro. However, even with the exactitude of a metronome marking there may be fluctuations in time due to interpretation.

When Susman wrote this work he was exploring the new possibilities of combining his Afro-Cuban rhythmic explorations of montuņo with the notion of time as rhythm. Much of his music of the 90s explored the repetitive rhythms heard in Afro-Cuban music. One such gesture is the montuņo a repeated syncopated line or obligato often assigned to the piano which outlines the harmonic structure. Susman also uses medieval rhythmic and counterpuntal devices called hocket and isorhythm.

Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn (6:30)
First Performance: San Francisco, Fort Mason Center, 1995.
Commissioned by The City Winds
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Waves (1982)

Quintet Tabor gave the first performance of Waves for an ensemble of improvisers at S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook, New York, November, 2008.

With lights dimmed, the musicians walked about the stage to and from a multi-directional mic allowing them to control in real-time the amount of reverb and volume of their sounds sent to the speakers. Quintet Tabor gave the first performance of Waves for an ensemble of improvisers at S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook, New York, November, 2008.

The computer-generated sound background is included on an audio CD along with performance instructions.

Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn (11:00)
First Performance: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1983.
William Susman, piano
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