Stagnation Points
Year: 2009
Instrumentation: Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin, Cello and Piano
First performance by "Meitar" ensemble - 22.12.2009, "Ha'teiva", Tel Aviv (Israel)
Other performances:
Recording:
Note:
Stagnation point is a term in fluid dynamics, which refers to a point in a flow field where the local velocity of the fluid is zero. One of the outcomes of Bernoulli equation is that static pressure is highest where the velocity is zero. Therefore the static pressure is at the highest level in the stagnation points.
In this piece this concept is expressed musically – the different movements and speeds corresponds to the different pressure or tension levels.
Therefore the “Stagnation Points” are the parts where there is no movement and the tension raises to its highest. Each of these parts consists of an ambiguous interval – which may have two different spectral functions. This ambiguity creates the tension in each stagnation point and the movement restarts only when the function of the interval is clarified.