Eighty Six

86 (Eighty Six)
Composed by Zach Koors (ASCAP)
For flute choir
Published by Koors Music Publishing

Instrumentation:
2 Piccolos
6 C Flutes
2 Alto Flutes
Bass Flute
Contrabass Flute (Opt.)

Notes to the Listeners:
      The phrase Eighty Six is sometimes used as a transitive verb – to “86” something, to get rid of it. Two contrasting thematic ideas are used in this piece that were inspired by two different styles of music that mean a lot to me – minimalism and jazz. I find a lot of value in both of these styles of music, and my compositional voice has partly come from all of the artists I listen to from these genres. The title points to the fact that many other contemporary composers have chosen to '86' both jazz and minimalism from spilling into the music they write, but for some reason I tend to be drawn toward them. As I began writing Eighty Six, the sweeping open figure was what came first. From this figure, I pulled out a contrasting lyrical melody which became the focus for all of the 'jazzy' sounding sections. The piece oscillates back and forth between distant soundscapes of repetitive figures and inviting tunes that seem to emerge from those soundscapes.
      Written at the request of Katherine Borst Jones and the Ohio State University Flute Troupe, who priemiered the piece at NFA 2017.