Edigitudes (2005)

Advanced; about 11 minutes for all three movements. Three Hollywood Stereotypes for String Quartet and Synthesized Sounds. I frequently complain about the effect that typical movie scores have had on much of the audience, conditioning them to react in a practically Pavlovian manner to hackneyed combinations of sounds. It seemed a good way to mock this whole state of affairs by indulging in exactly this sort of stereotyping, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. This requires an on-stage stereo system to play a CD of electronic sounds with which the group plays along in strict meter; it is the ‘cellist’s job to control the player. All CD parts can be supplied as .mp3 files for laptop playback if desired. Package includes performance CD and parts, rehearsal CD and parts, and score with set-up instructions. $30, including piano score, parts, and demo disk. Parts include cues of the electronic parts.

I. Invading Aliens Love Theme - a theme that only another species could consider romantic. The ending involves some simple improvisation.

II. Third World Jungle Espionage - this movement requires a large rain stick, played by the 2nd violin. The electronics and the rain stick provide a stereotypic ground beat, while the strings play melody above.

III. Suburban Angst and Pluck - sending up the classic Hollywood family comedy, featuring parents coping with artificially amplified middle-class problems while the kids spread chaos from the kitchen to the back of the minivan.