Crystal Forest

Crystal Forest was written for a competition that stipulated the use of specific audio samples and a duration of thirty seconds only. The compositional approach was therefore different to normal, as the audio samples were used as a starting point, rather than the music notation. This gave an opportunity to focus solely on the sounds, and the music didn’t necessarily need to be technically playable - although this was considered afterwards when the music was notated.

The sounds available were mostly standard orchestral instruments, but there was also a fujara flute. This is a large flute, originating from Slovakia. The recorded instrument was in the key of G, and had limited playable tones. So the fujara part had a big influence on how the other instruments would need to fit in. The available recordings included special techniques such as the prefuk (repeated overblowing of a note), and the rozfuk (a descending cascade of overtones).

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