Dess(o)us Paris (2015)

solo viola with 1*111/1110/t+2/hs
Duration: approx. 13 min

Read by the University of Louisville Symphony Orchestra
Michael Hill, viola
Kimcherie Lloyd, conducting

Program Note:
Les Catacombes and Notre Dame de Paris: two places that hold my most vivid memories of Paris, but these two places are also inextricably related. Notre Dame de Paris was built from limestone extracted from mines beneath Paris–mines that eventually became the ossuaries known today as the Catacombes. In depleting stone from the ground, cavernous and cathedral- like spaces were created beneath Paris while a cathedral rose toward the heavens on the Île de la Cité. In a way, two cathedrals were built: one a negative image of the other above. Dess(o)us Paris captures the duality of these opposite cathedrals, with the first movement relating to the Catacombes, and the second to Notre Dame de Paris.

Instrumentation:
Flute (doubles A.Fl. & Picc.)
Oboe (doubles E.H.)
B-flat Clarinet
Bassoon
F Horn
C Trumpet (doubles B-flat piccolo trumpet)
Trombone
Timpani*
Percussion (2 players)**
Harp
Solo Viola
Strings

*also with suspended symbol on drumhead

**Anvil, small triangle, large triangle, chimes (tubular bells), crotales (high and low sets), vibraphone, glockenspiel, medium tam-tam, bell plate