Wolff Tones E-Tude (2004)is for e-bowed piano, two sustaining instruments, and two to four melody instruments. It was written for the DownTown Ensemble for a concert celebrating Christian Wolff. It has six sections. Each section has a number of phrases, except for the first section, which has only one. The performers select a phrase from each section, repeat it a number of times and then choose another, until moving on to the next section. Upon successive repetitions the phrases chosen can either be the same or different than the ones chosen previously.

Wolff Tones E - Tude

MARY JANE LEACH is a composer/performer whose work reveals a fascination with the physicality of sound, its acoustic properties and how they interact with space. In many of her works Leach creates an other-worldly sound environment using difference, combination, and interference tones; these are tones not actually sounded by the performers, but acoustic phenomena arising from Leach’s deft manipulation of intonation and timbral qualities: “an acoustic Through the Looking Glass world based on sound that the performer is not making.” (The New Yorker).

Wolff Tones E - Tude

mjleach