The Holy Liftoff (Terry Riley)
A co-creation of Terry Riley’s The Holy Liftoff, commissioned from Riley by Claire Chase for her Density 2036 project.
Riley’s score consists of two parts: a folio of drawings with musical fragments, and 25 minutes of through-composed music for flute choir. The drawings provide musical ingredients whose interpretation and instrumentation are left completely open.
I created a 75-minute realization for flute, string quartet, and pre-recorded sounds, interlacing my interpretations of the musical drawings with the through-composed material, which I also arranged for the quintet. The pre-recorded sounds include flutes (up to 16 at once), stones and wind, and Riley’s speaking voice.
The 75-minute version was premiered by Chase and the JACK Quartet in Brooklyn in May 2024. Further versions based on the original have been performed by Chase with the string quartet Owls, Present Music, the Mivos Quartet, and the Prometheus Quartet.
I also edited the through-composed material, which can be performed on its own in a version for live solo flute and pre-recorded flute choir.
Short video excerpt from the premiere here.