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Kugelblitz
for alto saxophone and viola


Full Orchestra
String Orchestra
Wind Ensemble
Vocal
Chamber
Solo Instrumental

   Written for Jarita Ng, viola, and Joe Girard, saxophone. Premiered March 3, 2013 at the National American Saxophone Alliance Region 5 conference in Bowling Green, Ohio.

   Kugelblitz literally translates to "ball lightning," but in this case I am refering to the word as an astrophysics term. It is an incredibly immense concentration of energy that becomes so intense that it collapses in on itself and becomes a black hole. While this is just a theoretical occurrence, my mind is blown just trying to imagine such an unfathomable amount of energy existing in such a small space and the catastrophic result that destroys and traps this energy forever, removing it from our observable universe. While writing Kugelblitz, I envisioned this energy gradually welling and growing out of the ether of space. The opening is ethereal and mysterious, with long amorphous lines in the saxophone over a blanket of harmonics in the viola. The energy gradually builds and the music accelerates, surging forth in waves. At the end, the two frenetic instruments lift off the ground and then disappear with a flash.

   Duration: ca. 8'

   Download a sample of the score here.




Jarita Ng, viola, Joe Girard, saxophone, on March 9, 2013 at Rice University.



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