Plenum Vortices

Instrumentation:
Snare drum
Floor tom
Kick drum
Two cowbells or resonant metals of definite or indefinite pitch, with clearly different pitches
The setup is in the form of a reduced kit, and the piece is to be performed with four sticks.

My recent ensemble works for percussion have explored multiple trajectories important to me, in particular the constructive mathematical rigor of Pines Long Slept in Sunshine, and the cyclical groove structure of Ecstatic Volutions in a Neon Haze. Plenum Vortices represents a concentration of these trajectories into the solo medium. The piece begins with a polyrhythmic groove acting as the trunk of a tree, branching into motivic and mathematically-derived variations, each of which grow and entangle, eventually rendering the trunk itself invisible. It is the chaotic and unpredictable interactions of these entangled cycles which inspired the title, taken from Rene Descartes’ vortex theory of planetary motion. Descartes’ theory described the stars and planets as situated within spinning vortices within the non-empty plenum of space, giving rise to complex interactions between vortices. His theory was favored over Newton’s theory of gravity for not postulating an invisible force and for deftly adhering to the Church’s mandate that the Earth not move, yet it ultimately gave way to the superior explanatory power of Newton’s theory. Plenum Vortices was commissioned by Morris Palter and Andrew Bliss.

For a partial discussion of the construction of this work, see this paper presented by Andrew Bliss and Christopher Adler at the Livewire Festival in 2010.

For a discussion of different performers’ percussion setups, see the Interpreter’s Forum.

Commissioned by and dedicated to Andy Bliss and Morris Palter.

LP Release by Morris Palter

11×8.5 PDF score
$15

All scores are published by 

 (ASCAP) and © Christopher Adler (ASCAP)