(visit http://www.carlschimmel.com to order score and parts)
"Towns of Wind and Wood" was inspired by Anne Carson’s incredible poem "The Life of Towns," on which several of my early orchestral works were based. The work is actually a set of double variations (there is a theme for the towns of wood and another for the towns of wind, although the two are interrelated). Each town of wind uses one of the five pentachords which contain three or more minor thirds; the towns of wood act as segues and use both pentachords of the neighboring movements. My tools in the construction of these towns are however relatively arbitrary; it’s good to keep in mind that one’s appreciation of architecture does not necessarily require an engineering degree.
I. Town Afloat in the Night
II. Golem Town
III. Dog Breath Town
IV. Town of Sticks and Cudgels
V. Thunderhead Town
VI. Town of the Open Casket
VII. Town of the Scent of Daybreak
VIII. Town in the Willow on the Moon
IX. Town of the Smallest Cyclone
