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
Alchemia I : for orchestra, 1998 / Kim Bowman
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2222 2220 timp 5perc pf str
Corteggio : -1958- / Nico Schuyt
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3222 4331 2perc hp str
Intermezzo : for symphony orchestra / Alla Zagaykevych
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
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.