Weather One (1997) 20'
Commissioner: Siemens Kulturprogram for Ensemble Resonanz
First Performer: Weather Ensemble, Bang on a Can Marathon, World Financial Center Winter Garden, New York City, 4 June 2006
Instrumentation: string sextet (21111)
Special Features:
a. Sextet version of the first movement of Weather
Program note:
Weather One is the first movement from my piece for string orchestra, Weather, in an arrangement for string sextet. Weather was commissioned by the Seimans Foundation for the German-based string orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz. Inspired by the chaotic scheme of weather patterns, I wondered how these might transfer musically, as if the past several hundred years of musical ideas were swirling around, and I could just grab things I liked and build on them.
Weather One is influenced by Vivaldi's motoric string writing and use of canons, where the melody played by an instrument is immediately played by another in close succession.
––Michael Gordon
