Elegy
(reed quintet version)
The Space Between Us is a work in five interconnected movements exploring changing relationships through language, texture, color, and harmony.
1. Coming Together
2. As One
3. Remembering
4. Ever Constant
5. The more things change…
“Gregory Wanamaker’s five-movement The Space Between Us is a more severe approach to the same concept [closing the space between persons and especially the disparate members of a reed quintet becomes the focus]: the explorations of the sound potential of the reed quintet in its diverse individual sounds and combinations. It is one that has grown on me with repeated hearing: subtler than the preceding works, with ever shifting combinations of colors, movement from atonality into consonance, and constant motion of line. It strikes me as a piece that would be a thrill for the quintet to master and play.”
“By turns frenetic and soulful, the five pieces on this new release plunge a listener sharply into the world of the Akropolis Reed Quintet, a sharp, sleek ensemble out of the University of Michigan. Four of the pieces were commissioned by the group, and they share a fondness for funky rhythms, angular textures and slightly aggressive rhetoric — all of which might make the disc a little wearying in the aggregate if the music weren’t so shapely and smart. Moreover, the lyrical episodes that are scattered throughout — particularly the slow movements of the title work by Gregory Wanamaker, and John Steinmetz’s concluding “Sorrow & Celebration,” which calls for participation from the audience — are pure gold, shot through with tenderness and grace. Leading off is the startling, ingenious “Jesus Is Coming” by the Dutch composer known as Jacob TV, which builds densely layered textures from taped samples of two small children and a terrifyingly unhinged New York street preacher. It’s a piece you can’t unheard.”
The Space Between Us was commissioned by Akropolis Reed Quintet.
Listen to the piece here!
Order the score here!
Here is the preview/teaser of Akropolis Reed Quintet’s album “The Space Between Us” featuring my music in the background:
Premiere
Instrumentation
- Oboe
- Clarinet
- Alto Saxophone
- Bass Clarinet
- Bassoon