From One to Another I
(1970) for Viola and Tape
Duration: 9'

World Premiere:  30 November 1970, Los Angeles
Monday Evening Concert
Peter Mark, viola

Publisher:  Chester Music Ltd

Composer's Note:

From One to Another was conceived as a companion piece to Elegy for viola and cello, composed in April 1970 when the composer was a visiting guest professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Both works grow out of a sombre chord heard at the outset which soon gives way to more dramatic and virtuosic music. In From One to Another the source sounds in the tape were taken entirely from pre-recorded viola which were then treated with, what were at the time, standard electronic techniques. Hence the title.

In the several pieces I have written using tape, my main interest has been to find an exciting and satisfactory way to combine it with live instruments, for I still value the live performer as an essential part of a musical experience. Thus the source sounds are entirely taken from the viola and treated electronically, so that on the one hand the tape is not simply an adaptation of what could be played live by a second viola, but on the other hand, it retains just sufficient qualities of the original sound to match and blend with the live instrumentalist. For the whole idea is that the live viola closely interacts with what is on the tape. Hence the title.

From One to Another is based on the Elegy for viola and cello written earlier but it is an entirely different work. The main mood is indeed elegiac with some more violent and dramatic outbursts. It was written for Peter Mark and first performed by him at a Monday Eve concert in Los Angeles in November 1970.

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