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Metastable State, for sinfonietta

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Sinfonietta
2019
8 min.

Bass Clarinet

Bassoon

Cello

Clarinet

Double Bass

Drum Set

Flute

Horn

Oboe

Piano

Trombone

Trumpet

Vibraphone

Viola

Violin

More Details

Program Notes
Metastable states, in physics, are only locally stable - that is to say that a slight disturbance to a metastable system would leave it largely unscathed, but that a sufficiently large disturbance would send the system hurtling toward its stablest state. Consider a ball sitting in a ditch on a large hill. A soft kick might jostle the ball without dislodging it, but a hard enough kick would take it out of the ditch and all the way down the hill. Such a ball in a ditch, then, is in a metastable state. These ideas of jostling, kicks, and ostensible stability dominate Metastable State. Driven by an unsure drum set freewheeling through double- and triple-time rhythms, the piece contains a number of small, cellular ideas - a three-note motif introduced by the trumpet, a running sixteenth-note ostinato in the strings, a Dorian-inflected chord progression (i-IV), a gliss-filled bass line searching for resolution. Marked by constant time signature changes and competing rhythmic figures, the piece searches constantly for metrical stability, occasionally landing in crevices of regularity, only to be kicked out again and again. Metastable State was initially inspired by the astonishingly virtuosic and spunky sounds of Snarky Puppy and Hiromi, who both filled my listening playlists back in my physics lab days.
Recording Notes
Flute: Stephanie Ray Oboe: Sam York Clarinets: Lara Mitofsky Neuss Bassoon: Joy Guidry French Horn: Alexander Ian Oon Trumpet: Jia Yi Lee Trombone: Joey Becker Drum set: Colin Crandal Vibraphone: Sejeong Pyo Piano: Jonathan Shin Violin I: Claire Hebeisen Violin II: Audrey Maxner Viola: Amy Tan Violoncello: Irene Han Double Bass: Patrick Raynard Mix/master: Bobby Ge
Ensemble Name
Members of the Peabody Conservatory

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