NEW YORK NOTES

NEW YORK NOTES was written during 1981 and 1982 in response to a commission from the New York New Music Ensemble, to whom it is dedicated.  Its twenty minute length is divided into a conventional three-movement succession, with fast movements outside and a slow movement inside. The tempo, however, is always the same, so that the dif­fering speeds contained in the work are all expressed through note-value alterations rather than pulse changes. The six members of the ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion) are all engaged in virtuoso play, but I also think of their music as comprising three duets of the related pairs of instruments, as well as six solos. 

- Charles Wuorinen