Fate (and the butterfly effect)

Matthew SHLOMOWITZ
Born 1975, Chicago (Illinois), USA

Fate (and the butterfly effect) (2004)

trombone solo, guitar solo, flute, clarinet, percussion with CD playback, viola, violoncello, contrabass
Commissioned by ELISION Ensemble

Fate (and the Butterfly Effect) is a double concerto of sorts for trombone, guitar and an ensemble of six instruments including CD playback. It was inspired by Tom Tyker's film Run Lola Run and other such films where the fate of characters are played out multiple times with differing results. Throughout the piece there are six independent strands that are defined by their instrumentation: 1. solo trombone; 2. solo guitar; 3. ensemble; 4. flute, clarinet, trombone and percussion; 5. guitar, viola, cello and double bass; and 6. the CD part. After an expository section the strands (or scenes) appear in a fixed sequence, always beginning with the same solo guitar passage from which small deviations have large consequences.

Fate was the "dissertation piece" for my doctorate at Stanford University, which was supervised by Brian FERNEYHOUGH, who in 4 years gave me enough to think about for a life-time. It was commissioned by the Australia Council for the Arts and written especially for Benjamin MARKS, Geoffrey MORRIS and ELISION Ensemble.

Programme note © Matthew SHLOMOWITZ