Tachycardia (version for 2 Clarinets)
Instrumentation: Two Clarinets
Duration: 5'
Year: 2018
YouTube (version for 2 Alto Saxophones)
Program note:
Tachycardia is scored for two Alto Saxophones, though it may be played on any pair of like or similar instruments. I have a mild heart condition called Atrial Tachycardia, and for as long as I can remember, I have felt my heart skip beats. I was writing Tachycardia during a period when I was actively addressing my heart condition, and for the first time, following two procedures, my heart stop skipping. The sensation of feeling my heartbeat now in a regular, normal rhythm, was both odd and surreal, but it was also inspiring to me to put into sound. The two instruments represent the two halves of a human heart, each containing one atrium and one ventricle. In this short piece, they work together, interlocking and producing a life moving force that keeps the sound moving forward. The music rarely stops or pauses, and keeps beating to the end, always in a regular meter.
Tachycardia is the result of an international consortium of 32 Saxophonists. It was one of the quickest forming consortiums I have ever been involved in, fully formed in less than 24 hours.
-MM