related works
My Skeletonized Portrait : for violin and orchestra / Edward Top
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Violin and orchestra
Scoring:
vl-solo 3fl 2ob eh 2cl cl-b 2fg cfg 4h 3trp 2trb trb-b tb timp 3perc hp cel str
Midas : balletmuziek / Rob du Bois
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
4222 sax-a 2421 5perc el.g hp el.org/pf str
Scenes from the painted bird : for orchestra, 1982 / David Rowland
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3333 4331 timp 3perc cel hp str
Variaties voor orkest : 1998 / Ludwig Otten
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2222 4220 timp str
composition
Helix (2022 revision) : for orchestra / Edward Top
Other authors:
Top, Edward
(Composer)
Description:
Helix consists of a single motive that occurs in five different speeds. At the opening of the work it can be heard on its own - slowly - in the horn and strings, followed by denser sections where the music intensifies through diminution (the motive in faster appearances), spiralling in and out of the different speeds. An echoing technique derived from electronic delay as found in rock music emphasizes this spiralling. This echo can be heard throughout the six-minute composition, but starts right at the beginning as a layer in bassoons, percussion, harp and piano. The work shifts through different diatonic modes where Corellian suspension chains in the strings, again, underscore the spiralling motion. These elements combined result in a weightless twirling that eventually gravitates towards a more grounded climax.