(orchestra and live electronics)
composition duration: 13 minutes, composition date: 1991; revised
1999.
Sorrow's Moment, a work for orchestra and digital sounds,
was commissioned by the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra (Abilene,
Texas) in 1991. Originally titled "A Rainbow Shines There,"
the work was revised and renamed for a 1999 performance by the
Abilene Collegiate Symphony in 1999 as "Sorrow's Moment."
A computer controlled digital synthesis system responds in real
time to the tempo set by the conductor. MIDI technology permits
the synthesizers to execute their pre-sequenced lines as members
of the orchestral ensemble and eliminates earlier problems in
coordinating live performance with pre-recorded tape.
The work's title is taken from a haiku by Joy Shieman of Los Altos,
California, which appears in Borrowed Water: a book of American
Haiku, published by Charles E. Tuttle. Another of Reid's works,
Tear on a Child's Cheek, for mezzo-soprano
and piano, is a setting of five haiku by Shieman, including the
one from which the work borrows its title:
Tear on a Child's Cheek-
even at sorrow's moment
a rainbow shines there.
The orchestral score, synthesis and parts were created in the
Abilene Christian University Electronic Music Studio using Macintosh
Computers, FINALE (a notation and sequencing program by Coda Software),
Professional Performer (Mark of the Unicorn) and a Yamaha TX-816,
a rack-mount digital synthesis unit containing eight classic Yamaha
frequency modulation modules.
A Rainbow Shines There was supported by the Abilene Philharmonic,
the Abilene Christian University Research Council, and a Margaret
Fairbank Jory Copyist Assistance grant from the American Music
Center .
A Rainbow Shines
There [AIFF excerpt]
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Sorrow's Moment: a rhapsody for orchestra and digital sounds