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Flip
for ensemble of 17 strings (5.5.3.3.1)
duration: 10¼ minutes
© 1993, 2002 David Gompper
Program Notes
Flip, for string ensemble, is a playful exhibition of three elemental ideas and their transformation as they 'flip' or switch places - registrally [high to low] and instrumentally [violins to double bass]; as they alternate dynamics [loud to soft], timbre [arco vs. pizz] and meter; as they invert pitches — harmonically and melodically — and eventually 'flip-out' with much protracted and extended emotional eruptions. The work contains many kinds of bursts of energy (eclat), which set the gestures in motion, like a dancer doing 'back-flips', or one angered as they 'flip' someone off, including the uncertainty of the other's response.
Performances
Flip for 17 strings [1993]
-Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, September 21, 1996
-Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, May 16, 1993
Flip II for small string ensemble (6, 6, 3, 3, 1) [2002]
-Alternativa Festival, Moscow (November 2002)