|
Wendy Mae Chambers (USA, 1953),
also a virtuoso of toy piano,
specialized in large-scale neoclassical compositions:
the dadaistic Real Music (1978) for nine cars;
Street Music (1978) for 30 musicians and coordinated radio broadcast based on the theme from "Close Encounters”;
The Kitchen (1978) for nine performers on pots and pans and three performers preparing food;
Music for Choreographed Rowboats (1979) for 24 musicians in rowboats;
Busy Box Quartet (1980) for four crib toys;
Clean Sweep (1980) for nine vacuum cleaners;
Prime Time (1980) for nine tv-sets;
The Village Green (1980) for three marching bands, town siren and guns;
One World Percussion (1981) for 50 percussionists and solo Tibetan horn;
Ten Grand (1983) for ten grand pianos, on Symphony Of The Universe/ Ten Grand (Newport Classic);
The Grand Harp Event (1984) for 30 harps;
Solar Diptych (1985) for 30 trumpets;
Marimba (1986) for 26 marimbas;
Quill (1987) for six harpsichords and tapes of bird calls;
Symphony Of The Universe (1989) for 100 timpani, metal percussion, horn soloist, jazz band, choir, organ, and tape;
A Mass for Mass Trombones (1993), a nine-movement requiem scored for 77 trombones (based on the 13th century Mass for the Dead);
the eleven-movement Twelve Squared (1994), on Twelve Squared (New World, 1998), a voodoo tone poem in memory of John Cage for 12 percussionists, inspired by tarot cards (the last movement is 4'33" of intense sound, a sort of tribute to John Cage's 4'33" of silence);
Night Of The Shooting Stars (2005) for 16 percussionists;
Orbit (2006) for 16 percussionists and two conductors;
Kun (2009) for 64 toy pianos;
etc.
At the same time Chambers composed chamber music such as
Popcorn (1977) for percussion quartet,
Suite for Toy Piano (1983),
Set (1985) for percussion quartet,
Serenade (1992) for trumpet and vibraphone,
the Oceanic Variations (1992) for piano solo,
Blues (1996) for solo violoncello,
Psalms Of The Butterfly (1996) for violin and viola,
and especially the 45-minute suite for solo piano Antarctica (1999).
Her vocal music includes the song cycle
Endangered Species (1997) for mezzo-soprano, harp and percussion,
and Songs For Voodoo On The Bayou (2006).
|
