Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Missy Mazzoli
Violent, Violent Sea (2011)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
Reduced orchestration available: 1.1.1.1/1.1.1.0/2perc/str
- 2+pic.2.2.2/4.3.2+btbn.1/3perc/str
- 1.1.1.1/1.1.1.0/2perc/str (minimum 3.3.3.2.1 players)
- 9 min 30 s
Programme Note
First performances:
small orchestra version
June 18, 2011
League of Composers Orchestra ISCM
Louis Karchin, conductor
Brooklyn, NY
large orchestra version
November 19, 2011
Albany Symphony
David Alan Miller, conductor
Albany, NY
Composer note:
Violent, Violent Sea was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment and the League of Composers Chamber Orchestra, and was premiered at Miller Theater in New York City in June 2011.
This work began with more of an emotional impression than a precise musical idea. My early notes for the piece look something like this:
LOUD BUT SLOW. LIGHT BUT DARK. VIBRAPHONE. HOW TO DO THIS?
To my relief I eventually did figure out "how to do this." The work evolved significantly from these early sketches but my idea of creating a loud, dense work with conflicting light and dark sides remained
intact. The result is a ten-minute piece with a deceptively sparkling exterior and dark, slow-moving chords at its core. These chords grind against each other, dissolve into glissandos and crescendo into surprising dissonances under the glistening patina of vibraphone and marimba. This work is dedicated to Sheila Mazzoli, who loves the sea more than anyone.
— Missy Mazzoli
View Score - Reduced Orchestration
small orchestra version
June 18, 2011
League of Composers Orchestra ISCM
Louis Karchin, conductor
Brooklyn, NY
large orchestra version
November 19, 2011
Albany Symphony
David Alan Miller, conductor
Albany, NY
Composer note:
Violent, Violent Sea was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment and the League of Composers Chamber Orchestra, and was premiered at Miller Theater in New York City in June 2011.
This work began with more of an emotional impression than a precise musical idea. My early notes for the piece look something like this:
To my relief I eventually did figure out "how to do this." The work evolved significantly from these early sketches but my idea of creating a loud, dense work with conflicting light and dark sides remained
intact. The result is a ten-minute piece with a deceptively sparkling exterior and dark, slow-moving chords at its core. These chords grind against each other, dissolve into glissandos and crescendo into surprising dissonances under the glistening patina of vibraphone and marimba. This work is dedicated to Sheila Mazzoli, who loves the sea more than anyone.
— Missy Mazzoli
View Score - Reduced Orchestration
Scores
Reduced Orchestration
Reviews
Missy Mazzoli, whose beautifully constructed Violent, Violent Sea received its premiere here, said she had associated the League with composers like Mr. Babbitt and Mr. Carter and less with the genre-bending composers of her generation.
An element of danger lurked beneath the shimmering surfaces of Ms. Mazzoli’s alluring work, whose swirls and eddies were glazed with eerie harmonics in the strings and glittering vibraphone and marimba patterns that evoked sunlight on sea.
An element of danger lurked beneath the shimmering surfaces of Ms. Mazzoli’s alluring work, whose swirls and eddies were glazed with eerie harmonics in the strings and glittering vibraphone and marimba patterns that evoked sunlight on sea.
22nd June 2011
...the work is far more voluptuous than violent. It boasts fetching and sonorous writing for the entire ensemble, with soaring sustained tutti melodies and lushly spaced harmonies.
21st June 2011