Antarctica (2005) for Alto flute and Recorded Sound by Elizabeth Brown
Includes score and CD of recorded sound
Dedication: for Patti Monson
Duration: 6:51
Extended techniques used: microtones; overblown tremolos; compound, microtonal trills; non-standard fingerings
During the winter of 2004-05, Sara Wheeler’s book Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica was my bedtime reading. I started to dream about Antarctica, and this music was born in those dreams. I chose alto flute because of its range and timbre, and the taped portion consists of natural sounds recorded in my Brooklyn studio.
From Sara Wheeler’s book:
“The Landscape was intact, complete, and larger than my imagination could grasp. It was free of the diurnal cycle that locked us earthlings into the ineluctable routine of home. It didn’t have famines or social unrest. It was sufficient unto itself, untainted by the inevitable tragedy of the human condition.”
