Impurities (2006)     for flute, bassoon, percussion (marimba, 2 bongos, 4 tom-toms), violin, viola, cello NOTES:     The word impurities refers of course to something that sullies a substance that is considered pure.  In this piece it refers to the five "dirty" pitches that sully the otherwise "pure" diatonic scale.  The first section of the piece systematically adds these pitches until full chromatic saturation is achieved in the 12-tone music of the middle section.  Certain foreign pitches still persist in the return to pandiatonicism that follows.  Absolute purity is not natural in chemistry, and neither is it in the pitch material of this work. Impurities was written for the Interlochen Composer's Institute and will be premiered on August 12, 2006 in Interlochen, MI. LISTEN:     Recording coming soon         back to compositions