Will Rowe

Flute and Viola

Composer's Note:

[paused] is a set of short pieces that depict imagined scenes from unmade, futurist video games. While a soundtrack is often an engaging part of an artistic whole in creating such fantastical worlds, [paused] seeks to highlight music’s role in creating a novel environment.

Games like Earthbound, LISA, and APE OUT promise and forecast the growth of art music in the form. Many games continue playing their soundtracks overtop of the pause menu, allowing music to become the focal point of the environment for a brief moment, and this sampler platter for flute and viola invites the listener to imagine the bizarre game to which this would be the soundtrack.

Commissioned by violist Mark Hatlestad and flutist Leanne Hampton, and premiered at the Neu Chapel in Sep. 2019 (Evansville, IN). Finalist in the 2020 Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra Call for Scores, and Honorable Mention in the 2020 Maurice Gardner Composition Competition.