Elasticity

Elasticity composed by Nicole Chamberlain

Instrumentation: flute, viola, cello

Duration:  6′

Extended techniques required: Flute – Pizzicato, Jet Whistle, Ch & Za (Beat Boxing), Wide Vibrato Pulse, Pitch Bends                                                                             Viola & Cello – Knocks, Pizz. Gliss, Wide Vibrato Pulse, Pitch Bending

Elasticity was written for Cuatro Puntos specically for the ensemble’s 2013 Fall tour in Bolivia.  The composer, who is also a flutist, has always been envious of string players who could drastically change their sound by using different bowing and plucking techniques.  This composition challenges the flutist to mimic those sounds using various techniques, including beat boxing and pitch bending.

The Merriam Webster dictionary translates elasticity as the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation.  Throughout this piece the tonal center struggles to move away by a quarter tone or more using pitch bending, glissandos, and modulation.  No matter what develops throughout the piece the musicians always find themselves at C, right where they started in the beginning.