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Posted on 2006 by MG

What the Thunder Said

A new work by Steve Layton (composer based in Seattle, born 1956) that I like.
The composer says:

A “journey” or “meditation” similar to this year’s earlier O, Hebdomeros. A tiny snippet of a recording (5 seconds from the second movement of my composer-friend Alex Shapiro’s At the Abyss) was stretched to something over 18 minutes. This became the template for the composition, a kind of path that I had to accept, finding my way through, making whatever evocations and connections appear somehow form a thread of their own sense and meaning. The title is taken from the final section of T.S. Eliot’s iconic poem “The Wasteland”.

The song's basis is a fragment from a friend's composition (Alex Shapiro's "At the Abyss"), expanded from its original 5-second duration to over 18 minutes. This served as the template for the composition, the path to follow and adapt to, finding its own path through evocations and connections.
The title is taken from the final section of Eliot's poem "The Wasteland."

Steve Layton – What the Thunder Said (2006) flute, piano, vibraphone, strings/electronics


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