Premiere: May 5, 2002

Commissioned by the Orange Coast College Symphony, Alan Remington, cond.

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33(+EH)33 4331 perc timp str

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Duration 12'

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Breathless is part of Ron's larger "magnum opus" which also includes Flowers and Stones (1985), Crushed Flowers (2006) and Pelican Song (2007). The entirety is bound by a mysterious trance-inducing ostinato, heard here primarily in the marimba.

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The piece begins with a bang — and then it's off and running, a single through-composed movement with assorted changes of pace and texture along the way. The unmitigated forward motion is ultimately resolved in a static "chord", held for as long as the individual players are able within a single breath — until they all are, in the end, "breathless"

RL

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