FOR BALLOON AND STRING QUARTET

Performed by Judy Dunaway, balloons and the FLUX Quartet (Tom Chiu, violin; Conrad Harris, violin; Max Mandel, viola; Dave Eggar, cello).
LINK TO RECORDING OF FIRST MOVEMENT
LINK TO RECORDING OF SECOND MOVEMENT
LINK TO RECORDING OF THIRD MOVEMENT
The violin was created as an interpretation of the voice, and notational systems reflected the tones the composer wanted to hear. But the sounds of balloons are irregular and uncontrollable. The balloon is entirely flexible because the latex molecule can spread out and then spring back to its original shape. The pitches produced are infinitesimally microtonal. The natural harmonic series is distorted due to the flexibility of the substance and the spherical shape. The balloon does not lend itself to tonal music but rather sets its own musical boundaries.
"For Balloon and String Quartet"(written specifically for the FLUX Quartet and myself) melds the instrumental idiosyncrasies of the balloon with the string quartet. It spotlights a different sound capacity of the balloon in each movement - in the first movement as a "reed" instrument (reflecting into my mouth as a resonant chamber), in the second movement as an orb-shaped string (rubbed with wet hands), and in the third movement as a giant resonator (with the tones excited by the subtle vibrations of hand-held tape-players and vibrators). The string quartet plays within similar parameters as the balloon in order to bring this special identity to the entire ensemble.
"For Balloon and String Quartet" was commissioned by the American Composers Forum. It was premiered at Roulette (NYC) in November 2001. The piece was later awarded a recording grant by The Aaron Copland Fund. It was recorded by the FLUX Quartet and myself and released on a CD of my work by Innova recordings in 2006.
LINK TO RECORDING OF FIRST MOVEMENT
LINK TO RECORDING OF SECOND MOVEMENT
LINK TO RECORDING OF THIRD MOVEMENT
The violin was created as an interpretation of the voice, and notational systems reflected the tones the composer wanted to hear. But the sounds of balloons are irregular and uncontrollable. The balloon is entirely flexible because the latex molecule can spread out and then spring back to its original shape. The pitches produced are infinitesimally microtonal. The natural harmonic series is distorted due to the flexibility of the substance and the spherical shape. The balloon does not lend itself to tonal music but rather sets its own musical boundaries.
"For Balloon and String Quartet"(written specifically for the FLUX Quartet and myself) melds the instrumental idiosyncrasies of the balloon with the string quartet. It spotlights a different sound capacity of the balloon in each movement - in the first movement as a "reed" instrument (reflecting into my mouth as a resonant chamber), in the second movement as an orb-shaped string (rubbed with wet hands), and in the third movement as a giant resonator (with the tones excited by the subtle vibrations of hand-held tape-players and vibrators). The string quartet plays within similar parameters as the balloon in order to bring this special identity to the entire ensemble.
"For Balloon and String Quartet" was commissioned by the American Composers Forum. It was premiered at Roulette (NYC) in November 2001. The piece was later awarded a recording grant by The Aaron Copland Fund. It was recorded by the FLUX Quartet and myself and released on a CD of my work by Innova recordings in 2006.