Robert Scott Thompson

Six Cellos

Composer's Note:

The Wind at Beni Midar was composed in 1981 and editorially revised in 1998. This work is inspired by the short story of the same title from Paul Bowles' "A Hundred Camels in the Courtyard." 

This book spans four tales of contemporary life in a land where alternative means are sought as a way out of the phenomenological world. The composition itself strains the notion of the phenomenology of time consciousness, as the materials of the work are largely framed in a moment-form scheme. Cast into two large sections, the 25-minute duration is first characterized by fleeting musical structures which emphasize both sound and silence in equal measures. The second part of the work is continuous in overall sound texture yet freely developing an elaborate morphology. 

Scored for six ‘celli, details of timbre and texture owe much to my work in the field of electroacoustic music. The cello is an instrument of remarkable versatility, and the use of a sextet provides superb resources of sound.