programme note

(fr) écoulement = (eng) flow, discharge, outflow, effusion, outpourings, passing, elapse

Écoulement is a short study in gestural writing in music. The gestures include long, drawn out glissandi, rapid chromatic scalar passages, speed-variable vibrato phrases. My key goal with the work was to construct a complete piece of music using a limited set of ingredients. Decisions regarding repetition of phrase, dynamics, change of pitch centers, etc. were key to establishing a structure that hopefully allows the work to come alive in a meaningful way.