Arias: Critical Immobility
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- Composer: Spencer Arias (1990-)
- Format: Score & Set of Parts
- Instrumentation: Wind Quintet (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon)
- Work: Critical Immobility (2023)
- ISMN:
- Size: 8.7 x 12.0 inches
- Pages: 11
Description
Critical Immobility is one piece out of a collection of works, new works in response to and collaboration with a group of plant scientists, in this case, Andrei Smertenko, in his talk "Critical Immobility." This scientist, in particular, was quite vivid in his explanations of how plant cells interact with one another and how they differ from animal cells. for instance, when an animal cell is infected with a disease, the other cells will work together to eliminate the infected cells and keep that disease from spreading. This defense is also partly due to cells' ability to move and adapt in ways plant cells cannot. This defense is our immune system. Plant cells, on the other hand, are immobile and cannot move within the plant. This lifestyle has consequences, such as a tiny disease spreading throughout the plant that begins to spread. One way to fix this is to prune a plant to remove diseased stalks.
Plant Cells make decisions collectively to respond to environmental signals. So when there is a frigid day, and the plant leaves are feeling the harsh frost brush up against the plant, the cells within the leaves will send a signal to other parts of the plant, such as the roots, to let them know that they will need to adjust or adapt so not to experience this frost so negatively. This adaptability is critical to understanding how cells adapt so it can better help us keep plants from negatively reacting to the effect of climate change. Musically, I wanted to create a work that reflected many of these reactionary responses. The initial pulsating motive builds to this choral moment that organically arose from the chosen harmony, which is vaguely a canon. As each section evolves, different instruments take on various roles and act communicatively, so it should feel like a response, even if the musical material repeats. The three primary sections of the work explore different responses to external environmental stimuli while also exploring the color of the quintet to represent various parts of a plant, all leading us back to the pulsating calmness of a return to normalcy.
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Arias: Critical Immobility
