Lilliputian Arctic Deviation

Instrumentation: 1.1.1.1. — 1.1.1.0. — 4 perc. — piano — strings

Duration: 14 minutes

Recording:

Program Notes:

Lilliputian Arctic Deviation is a work for sinfonietta inspired by average snow and ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere. The Rutgers University Global Snow Lab records weekly snow extent averages for the Northern Hemisphere from 1967 until the present day. This work focuses on the summer months and uses musical materials to reflect two characteristics of the data collection: a significant decline in average snow extent from 1967 to 2015, and a transition from drastic yearly differences in the late 1960s through the early 1990s, to more consistent and predictable values in the late 1990s to 2015. Similar yearly average data values are reflected through shared musical materials. Data regions are grouped into eight regions, and data points falling within the same region share motivic, melodic, harmonic, and timbral materials.