ABSTRACT
In 1979, after more than 15 years of composing for my own ensemble, I gradually became interested in composing for the orchestra. One of my main interests was to transfer certain techniques I was developing in smaller ensembles to the orchestra. In particular, I was interested in interlocking unison canons for instruments of identical timbre. For instance, three flutes in unison canon simultaneous with three clarinets, three oboes and all the first violins divided in three equal groups also playing harmonically related unison canons. These ideas found orchestral form in 1984 in The Desert Music, for chorus and orchestra, and in 1987 in The Four Sections, for orchestra. In both pieces I found questions of orchestral size and seating to be essential for performance.
