Being

Year: 2019

Heading: for 24 instruments

First Performance:
September 4, 2021
Dresdner Sinfoniker
Premil Petrović, conducting
The Elbe Caravan (a barge on the Elbe River)
Dresden, Germany

First Recording:

Musicians: American Modern Ensemble
Conductor: Michael Torke
Producers: Silas Brown, Michael Torke
Editing Engineer: MC Maguire
Post Production Engineers: Sam Starobin, Jeremy Kinney, Doron Schächter
Mastering: Silas Brown
Recording Location: Oktaven Audio, Mt Vernon, NY: 6, 30 September 2019, Sound on Sound Studios, Montclair, NJ: 12, 19 November 2019

Ecstatic Records: ER092281
UPC: 656750683767

Recording: BEING

Listen now: BEING (click here to listen)

Purchase study score: click to order study score

Instrumentation:

flute
oboe
clarinet in Bb and A
bass clarinet in Bb
2 soprano saxes
bassoon
3 horns
trumpet
3 trombones
timpani
2 marimbas
2 pianos
2 violins
1 viola
1 cello
1 bass

Duration: 43’

Press:
Imagine Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians with an added dose of giddiness and glee. Variety of mood compensates for variety of tempo; and verve for profundity. This deserves more attention.— Paul Crossley

The process which unfolds in Being pays special homage to the 1970s minimalism of Steve Reich. Expansive pedal tones are reminiscent of what we hear in Reich’s Music for a Large Ensemble (1978). Teeming with infectious energy, Being embraces the pure joy of rhythm. —The Listener’s Club

American composer Michael Torke has once again delivered an album that showcases his unique voice and style, drawing inspiration from jazz and minimalism to create a work that shimmers with vibrant timbrel palettes and infectious energy. —UNaligned.org

Program Note:
BEING is a continuous 43 minute composition, in 9 parts, whose tempo is a consistent 126 beats per minute.