As the title would suggest, the piece explores various musical spectra.  The piano and percussion are perpetually suspended which allows for the development of a "sound cloud" as pitches continue to resonate.  Interesting things happen as new pitches enter the cloud such as pitch fluctuations, sympathetic vibrations and harmonics from neighboring resonating bodies, and the natural thinning of the cloud over time.  Rather than focus on the timbral possibilities of each instrument, I sought to change the timbre of the cloud as a unit by varying how pitches enter into it.  This became its own spectrum spanning from individual pitches, through small, rolled pitch sets, to multi-octave chromatic clusters.  This concept determines the formal structure of the piece starting with sections of sparse entrances which become very dense at the climaxes and thinning out again as the piece comes to a close.

Using this very abstract concept, I tried to describe to the audience what the world might feel like to a person on the autistic spectrum.  Sensory overload is a common cause of autistic behaviors and my aim was to amplify these sensations to the point where it would similarly affect someone not on the spectrum.  One reviewer describes the piece as a "sonic temper tantrum".  I think that assessment is rather apropos.

A workshop reading by the Bristol Ensemble.  Roger Huckle (violin), Paul Israel (piano), and David Insua-cao (percussion).

SPECTRA for violin, piano, and percussion

" ...simultaneously innovative, intellectually stimulating, but most of all emotionally moving." - Maria Choban, Oregon ArtsWatch

SPECTRA for violin, piano, and percussion

Brandon Stewart