Title: Electron Spin

Instruments: 2 piccolos, 4 flutes, 2 alto flutes

Program Notes:

This piece was suggested to me by a good friend who is also a physicist – it represents my naive understanding of the sub-atomic world (is that even right?) and confuses aspects of atomic structure with splitting atoms and proton collisions. These were the ideas that preoccupied me as I wrote the piece. The flutes start out in a very orderly manner, until piccolos collide with their material, causing rippling changes and ramifications within the pattern. Eventually, the strong emphasis on C is split into an emphasis on C# and B.

Apologies to all physicists everywhere!

Written for the Stanford Flute Ensemble.

First Performed: April 2011: Stanford Flute Ensemble