Flux: Full Scores

Flux demands serious interpretive chops from an advanced ensemble willing to embrace 12 minutes of controlled chaos. The score's inscription to Wendell Logan and connection to Oberlin's jazz heritage give it real institutional weight, and the sheer range of techniques required (quarter tones, multiphonics, extended bowing, prepared piano) makes it a genuine challenge that rewards meticulous preparation.

Flux is kinetic and unpredictable, drawing its energy from the visual intensity of Donaldson's painting. The music propels forward through jagged instrumental textures, sudden shifts in density and color, and techniques that push the strings and winds into unfamiliar territory. It's disorienting by design, challenging listeners and performers to embrace discontinuity as structure.

This score is designed for advanced string orchestras, university contemporary music ensembles, and professional groups with players experienced in extended techniques and contemporary notation. Conductors programming cutting-edge repertoire and institutions with a commitment to living composers will find Flux essential.

• Study the extended technique notation thoroughly before rehearsal; the performance notes are essential, and your players need to understand what each symbol demands before trying it at tempo.
• Mark all tempo and dynamic shifts in advance. The score leaps between ideas unpredictably, so clear verbal and gestural cues from the podium prevent ensemble derailment.
• Balance the prepared piano glissandi carefully against the string textures; these effects can disappear if the strings dominate the dynamic landscape.
• Schedule separate sectional rehearsals for wind and string players to build confidence with extended techniques in isolation before full ensemble work.

Flux works powerfully as the centerpiece of a contemporary music concert or as a standalone festival premiere. Its 12-minute span and high technical demands suit a program where it can receive dedicated rehearsal time; pairing it with other works from the Peters Contemporary Library creates thematic coherence. Universities with strong contemporary music traditions may consider it for a student composer showcase or lecture-demonstration.

• Reading and executing quarter tones and microtonal notation
• Performing multiphonics and percussive effects on winds
• Extended bowing techniques on strings (non-traditional articulations and timbral control)
• Interpreting dense contemporary notation and performance symbols
• Ensemble precision under frequent metric and textural changes
• Collaborative listening in complex polyrhythmic passages