Update Title: 6B5AA602-C36A-4CC2-9B82-4EEE621A5BF3

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Rain Dance has four main contrasting sections or movements which are linked together and performed without pause.  The first and third sections are related by both their accompaniment and the lyrical nature of the flute line.  The second section is pointillistic and builds to a grand climax where the soloist must struggle to avoid drowning. A brief flute cadenza links the third movement to the rollicking, rondo-like finale, which features a very brief (and very "wet") tape music "cadenza."

Nearly all of the sounds in the tape music accompaniment for Rain Dance are derived from half a dozen flute sounds and a couple of different water sounds.  Mostly I chose flute sounds such as key clicks, flutter tonguing, tremolos, blowing air without producing a tone, etc. -- rather than ordinary flute tones.  In addition, a few white noise and percussion sounds are used.

The title and the nature of the sounds on the tape are meant to be evocative merely in a general way.  There is no strict programmatic intent nor does the work derive inspiration from any specific culture or ritual.  The idea for combining water sounds with the flute sounds, which were the original basis for the composition, grew out of what I perceived to be a complementary sonic relationship between water drops and some of my transformed key clicks.  However, as the piece began to develop and the title took hold, some very peculiar national weather patterns set in.  I had the eerie experience of being "immersed" in the sounds of this composition as the Mississippi River valley endured the flood of the century, while much of the East, including my part of Ohio, suffered a severe summer-long drought.

--Mark Phillips

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