Concerto Grosso

My Concerto Grosso was inspired by European composers such as Enno Poppe and Bernhard Lang who have creatively used rock ensembles in a purely classical setting. Rather than attempting to adapt popular tropes to the classical world, this piece instead tries to imagine what a contemporary classical piece using an embedded rock group might sound like within the composer’s specific sound world. Comprised of paired cycles of constantly shifting, permuting polyphonic lines entwined and entangled together, this Concerto Grosso highlights a prismatic orchestration foregrounding woodwinds and strings in continuous flux. Within this context, the soli group featuring tenor sax, analogue synth, electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums is heard both together as a unit and as individual soloists; even the drum set is usually used to carry melodic shapes rather than provide a rhythmic backbone. There are three movements: Metal, Machine, and Music.