2 players: fl & perc - Free Dive

Ensemble: flute (dbl. piccolo), vibraphone

Duration: 3 minutes

Commissioned by: Catherine Gregory

Premiere: Lyrica Chamber Concert Series, Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township, NJ

Published by: Yes Daedalus Music

Note:

“Free Dive” was inspired by divers who descend to extreme depths on a single breath. The piece takes about the same amount of time that it takes for a diver to go from the surface to the very bottom of a dive (sometimes up to 400 feet). The piece starts very high in the piccolo’s range and eventually lands at the bottom note of the vibraphone. Often divers describe seeing visions, hallucinations of mermaids and fish and other things as they go deeper, and I was looking for a kind of ecstatic catharsis as the flute gives in to the pull of gravity, the deeper it goes.

*This piece comes with an optional electronic track that can be triggered via foot pedal or space bar.

Perusal score: view here