Name: Hellgate Beach
Price range: $$

Type

Piece

Composer

Karen Siegel

Composer Nationality

American

Composer Date of Birth

1980

Text

Karen Siegel

Year Composed

2008

Pages

13 (choral score )/18 (full score)

Minutes

Difficulty

4 (Auditioned chorus)

Language

English; Wordless

Voicing

4 part mixed chorus

Divisi

Yes

Solos

Shotglass clinking by choir member

Instruments

Percussion (percussion 1: on tri., met. chimes, h. cym., l. cym., w. chimes, chinese w. bl., w. bl., log dr., c. bel., brake dr., & crot.; percussion 2: sand bl., med. toms, conga dr., & marimba; choir member: shot glasses)

Extended Techniques

Yes

Sacred or Secular

Secular

Mood

Sparse, distant, minimal; Rhythmic, with steady energy; Relaxed, dreamy, introspective

Description

The original text and music are inspired by the sounds of the meeting of waves and broken glass by the Hellgate Bridge in Astoria, Queens. This undulating motion is echoed in gentle sweeps of sound in both the percussion and the chorus. The voices of the chorus delicately weave through a shifting texture of metal and wood percussion sounds. Hellgate Beach was composed for and premiered by C4: the Choral Composer/Conductor Collective with Levy Lorenzo and Dennis Sullivan in 2008.

https://soundcloud.com/karensiegel/hellgate-beach-excerpt

Audio Credit

C4, conductor David Rentz; percusion Dennis Sullivan & Levy Lorenzo

Web Page

http://karensiegel.com/hellgatebeach/

Group

Performances

C4: 2008 Jun 7 (Hit It), cond. Rentz (World Premiere)