Premiere: December 2014, Jonah Udall, Wynwood Arts Festival, Miami FL

 

Duration:  ca. 7'20"

 

Program Note:

 

Psammosere is an ecological term for a developing dune community where floral and faunal life develop in an exposed sandy area. Unique and unexpected plants, including certain grasses, shrubs, and small trees, provide a temporary home for fleeting animal life, including birds and foxes.  This piece captures the evolution of such a sand dune, with musique concrete-style accompaniment featuring fox cries, dune effects, manipulated sand scooping and gravel (suggesting the presence of man), and sparse water. The guitar provides a blooming effect, as the lines become more complicated and involved, from muted chops to virtuosic lines, building distorted cascades, and lush, rich chords, suggesting a thriving, yet granular and dry, habitat.