Air, Earth, Water, Fire [orchestra] (2015, AMH) FULL SCORE

Composer: Alannah Marie Halay (2015)

Instrumentation

Flute I-IV

Oboe I &II

Clarinet I & II

Bassoon I & II

French horn I & II

Trumpet I & II

Percussionist (x1)

Violin I & II

Viola

Violoncello

Double bass

Trumpets I & II: 1x straight mute and 1x wah-wah mute (each).

Percussionist: tam-tam, bass drum, tenor drum, marimba, 25” timpani (initially tuned to F3),

suspended cymbal (to place on timp.).

The percussionist requires 1x brush mallet, 1x triangle stick, 1x superball mallet, 2x wooden drumstick,

2x bass drum mallet, 2x hard-headed beater, 2x medium-headed beater, 2 timpani mallet, 1x double bass bow.

Air, Earth, Water, Fire explores four timbral domains that are each likened to the four states of matter as theorised by the ancient Greeks. ‘Air’ is represented by audible breath, brush strokes, and scraping. ‘Earth’ is represented by percussive rumbling characterised by a combination of tapping, knocking, key clicks, and pizzicati. ‘Water’ is represented by definite pitch, tremolandi, and glissandi. ‘Fire’ is characterised by instrumental techniques that result in unstable (or ‘volatile’) audible sounds such as harmonic glissandi, bowed percussion, and pitches that lie outside an instrument’s tessitura. Generally, these four timbral ‘states’ are separated into four consecutive sections; however, they do overlap at times before fully interacting in the final section. - Alannah Marie Halay (composer)