Chambers, M :: ...Glass Darkly...

Mark Chambers Glass Darkly for alto flute, piano, and electronics.

From the composer:

Theological reflection in music has been an interest to composers such as Bach, Mendelssohn, and Messiaen, as well as others. I also have been influenced by my theological interests which is brought out quite deliberately in glass darkly

glass darkly is the first work in which I have utilized computer software from IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique.) Though the work is influenced and borne out of electronic music techniques it is not a work that is cold and lifeless. It is highly structured in terms of form and harmonic content yet contains moments of quiet reflection that are contrasted with episodes of dramatic peaks.

I then thought of the passage from I Corinthians. If one were to explore in musical terms what this passage means how would that affect the outcome? How does one see into eternity with mortal eyes? What do we see when we look through a glass darkly? As I considered my material in light of this passage I thought it best to fit the material to the particular instruments. To do this I needed to round up the various microtones so they would fit the given instrument. So for example say one tone had a frequency of 427.65 Hz (the half-way point between G# - 415.30 Hz and A 440 Hz.) I could keep the pitch for the flute, as it can readily play quartertones, but I would then round up the pitch to 440 Hz for the piano. I then added an electronic portion to the music to further realize the other microtones that the flute couldn t play.

The result of all this is that there are three layers that are incomplete reflections of the each other.