Clusters (2010)

- 188 Hubert Howe: Clusters (2010) Most sounds that we hear in music consist of a spectrum of harmonic partials or overtones, and sometimes these also include some inharmonic components. In Clusters, the overtones are all clusters of 5-note chords, reflecting the harmony of the passage, duplicated through three to four octaves above the note; they are not harmonic partials. In other words, harmony becomes spectrum. For most sounds, the amplitudes of these components are varied so that they have a kind of “shimmer ” moving up and down the spectrum. There are five different kinds of instruments used in the piece: the basic cluster itself, a “sparkle” or variegated cluster, a “whoosh” sound that attacks each of the components separately, a “gong” sound, and a cluster glissando. The piece begins in the middle range and proceeds through several short passages, each emphasizing a combination of the instruments, until in reaches a climax, where all instruments are used, and concludes quietly, much as it began. -Hubert Howe ...