Gliss

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Gliss for trombone trio, electric guitar trio, and string trio was commissioned by OSSIA New Music and written in February and March 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic of that year. 

I have been fascinated by the sound of glissandi—sliding between pitches—for years now.  While some instruments, like keyboard instruments and harp, typically can only produce discrete glissandi—a rapid series of discrete fixed pitches, such as sliding along  the piano keys, which I’ve explored previously such as in my Prelude No. 3 (Homage to Nancarrow)—continuous glissandi, where a tone passes through all of the microtones between our familiar 12 chromatic pitches, have a particularly unique sound.  For this piece I’ve chosen instruments which can performed sustained continuous glissandi (unlike, for example, timpani where you can get a continuous glissando by changing the tuning of the drum with a foot pedal, but once the drum head is struck the tone begins to fade away). While the glissando is a technique that is typically used infrequently as a kind of decoration, I am fascinated by works that make the glissando an important and prominent structural feature, such as in some of the works of Iannis Xenakis, Conlon Nancarrow, and Gloria Coates.  For this piece, which features nine instruments all capable of sustained continuous glissandi, I’ve sought to explore as many different possibilities and textures as I could using this amazing sound. 

This piece is dedicated to the composer Gloria Coates, who’s music has expanded my understanding of the glissando and its expressive potential.

Premiered April 29, 2021 by OSSIA New Music, Maurice Cohn-conductor, at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY.