Wingspan (2019)

Premiere
5 March 2019
String Theory
Anthony McGill, clarinet and Gloria Chien, piano
Mizpah Congregation
Chattanooga, TN

Note
Wingspan (2019) continues Tower's exploration of the competing tensions within music's airborne motion, revealed in her titles of works such as Ascent (1996), Rising (2010), Second Flight (2017), and her celebrated work for solo clarinet, Wings (1981). On Rising, she observed, “I have always been interested in how music can ‘go up’,” and “One can’t, however, just go up.” Ascent is not infinite. A level is reached, and a descent — or a further climb — could follow. With simultaneous contrasts — high/low pitches, loud/soft dynamics, increasing/decreasing tempi, single notes or rich chords — Tower creates a complex mixture of actions upon which her musical wingspan reacts, always reaching.

— Ed Matthew