Luimen

Note from the composer:For a number of years I had been thinking of writing a piece based on the sound of plucked Instruments like the mandolin, guitar and harp, so when the Dutch Nieuw Ensemble asked me for a piece I realised that this group had excellent players of these three Instruments to which I added trumpet, trombone and vibraphone and composed a one-movement Fantasy whose Dutch titles was chosen by the ensemble (meaning “moods”). The score opens with a fast movement that presents each Instrument in brief solos between moments for the entire group. This is followed by a slow movement during which the mandolin picks out a line of short notes. A guitar solo accompanied by the group follows and the work concludes with a coda for the sextet. The music was composed during the early summer of 1997 in Southbury, Connecticut.- Elliott Carter -