Desert Miniatures

from Acoustic by Robert McClure

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about

I. the air at night
II. spiky things
III. in a cool dark
IV. new stones
V. skittering lizards

Desert Miniatures was written in the winter of 2009-10. The collection was commissioned by Kathryn Christensen who I worked with on the piece, Variations for Piano. I had felt the desire to write piano miniatures for Kathryn for some time when she contacted me to write these short pieces about the Sonoran Desert located around Tucson, AZ. We both developed a love for the desert during our master’s degrees at the University of Arizona. Each piece is written on an image or feeling specific to the Sonoran Desert.

the air at night is a piece in free time about the dry, cleansing air during the fall and spring months. The piece has several numeric processes running throughout due to the fact that I limited the number of notes played to less than 100.

spiky things: rocks, snakes, scorpions, ocotillo, trees, cacti - most anything in the desert can puncture you. The Sonoran Desert is lush and green for a desert, but it is equally sharp and unforgiving at every turn. Personally, I have some experience with being impaled by cacti. Yet, the beauty of even the sharpest of its inhabitants lures you out into the desert again and again.

in a cool dark is about the Arizona State Flower, the saguaro cactus blossom. These flowers bloom between May and June. They are located on top and near the ends of the limbs of the saguaro cactus which is only found in the Sonoran Desert. They have white-cream leaves with a yellow center. During cool spring nights, the flowers open. During the following day, they close permanently only to become red-fleshed fruit which falls from the cacti before the monsoons begin in the late summer. While writing the piece I imagined the a view of the short-lived flowers opening with a clear, star-filled sky, only possible in the desert.

new stones is in reference to my hiking experiences in Catalina State Park, Coronado National Forrest, and near Gate’s Pass. When you are climbing in the mountains you constantly have different perspectives as to where you are, what is in front of you, and what you've already passed. On several trails there were spots I loved to look at from all perspectives and they never seemed the same.

skittering lizards is about the tiny lizards both in the city and surrounding mountains of Tucson. They drove my beagle, Miles, crazy on walks through the mountains because they would dart out in front of him, just out of his reach as he would lunge at them. My wife as described their running as “skittering.”

credits

from Acoustic, released July 21, 2017
Linda Angkasa, piano

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Robert McClure Athens, Ohio

Robert McClure composes music for
people and computers. He holds a doctorate from Rice University. He has previously held positions at Soochow University and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He is currently an Associate Professor of Composition/Theory at Ohio University in Athens, OH. ... more

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