Patrick O'Malley composer+conductor

paths penumbra

a dark chamber fantasy

for clarinet, viola, and tape - 2014, 10 minutes - commissioned by Directions Duo

Recording by the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra:

excerpt 1: ambient, mysterious, dark

Video performance by Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra's Benjamin Mitchell (clarinet) and Michael Chang (viola):

instrumentation

clarinet, viola, and stereo playback fixed media (click track available)

Selected Performances

New Music Detroit

Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra

Directions Duo

Program Note

I think of this piece as a sort of “musical dungeon” – a dark but mesmerizing place in which our players explore and hunt for secrets. There are dangers in the shadows, but also light that flickers beams in from somewhere. Deep pulses and rings of metal lead inside, and images are distorted by warped mirrors. Comfort comes as a momentary shine from cracks in the wall. The players converse back and forth on what they see.

Much of the music is drawn from the interval of a minor seventh, and subsequently, chords contained within that interval. The electronics were created by processing samples of my own work (some already written and some newly created), as well as improvisations recorded by my original players Katie Kroko (viola) and Emily Cook (clarinet).