Flow is the product of an aesthetic preoccupation towards the domain of quiet sounds. It is a series of concurrent streams which move independently, each operating as a filter through which we hear a slowly changing meta-timbre.

In late 2019 and early 2020, I was among several composers the opportunity to write a piece in collaboration with an ensemble as part of an initiative researching orchestrational practices. This ensemble, in addition to being extremely unusual, presented challenges of balance and timbre, and given the collaborative workshop structure of the project, I was inspired to look for solutions outside of the bounds of what one might normally do as a composer, going so far as to design and test mutes and reeds to push the disparate, non-homogenous sounds of each instrument towards each other.

Many thanks to the ACTOR Project, to the dedicated musicians who were integral collaborators when writing the piece, and to the dedicated performers heard in this recording:

Eric Bourgeois, Trombone
Jeanne Côté, Violin
Martin Daigle, Percussion
Matias Perinetti-Paniagua, Bass Clarinet

Charles-Eric Fontaine, Conductor

Flow (2019-2020)

Assembled from two recordings: 
0:00-6:00 (approximately): Quartetto Indaco
6:00-End: Friction Quartet

My thanks to both quartets for their wonderful work performing this piece.

String Quartet #2

Doctoral student in Composition at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. Master's and Undergraduate degrees from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

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Alexander Blank

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