About the Piece

A Primitive Impulse was composed for the 2014 Charlotte New Music Festival.  The title of this piece refers to the primal qualities of the piece as a whole and the 4-note gesture, or impulse, that initiates the music and is heard in many guises throughout.  The timbre of the percussion instruments, the slides in the strings, the driving rhythms, the heterophonic textures and the use of pentatonic scales all contribute to the primitive soundworld.  In my mind, I picture a tribal celebration, with a lot of energy from beginning to end, even in the less dense and/or more reflective sections.  

​

link to score sample