Lois V Vierk

for piano/synthesizer, flute, clarinet, bassoon, viola, contrabass, and percussion

Hiking a trail to high altitudes takes you through an ever changing landscape. The dark closeness of the forest gradually gives way to increasing spaciousness. Light shimmers in as hints of the grandeur ahead draw you up the mountain. Arriving at the timberline and then at the mountain top gives you a spectacular view of the land below and the sky all around you.

This work is in two continuous sections. The first section begins with winds and strings in the mid range, playing held notes and slow glissandi. Simple grace notes are added. Little by little a dense texture is built as grace notes are transformed into ascending pentatonic scale passages in winds and strings. This is overlaid contrapuntally with a piano texture of ornate grace notes, tremolos and trills, gradually moving up over the full range of the keyboard. Cymbals roll at the climax.

The second section begins under the ringing cymbals with slow, open fifths in the lowest register of the winds and strings. The sounds are dark and languid, with many sliding tones. Very gradually more percussive sounds are added. Phrases are becoming shorter, notes are getting faster, shifting from whole notes to half notes to quarters. The piano begins a bright and rhythmic punctuation of the phrase, introducing 16th notes. The development of this rhythmic and harmonic figure gradually moves the piece to its climactic conclusion. Finally all the instruments combine to form one texture--dynamic, rhythmic, covering the entire instrumental range.

Timberline was commissioned for the Relâche Ensemble of Philadelphia by Kobrand, Inc., importer of Champagne Taittinger.

A CD recording was released on New World Records -- Lois V Vierk: Words Fail Me, New World 80766.

Recording is by the Relâche Ensemble of Philadelphia, conducted by Lloyd Shorter, from CD:

New World Records 80766 "Lois V Vierk: Words Fail Me"

Click here to view the CD on New World Records.

Click here to view the score.

Lois V Vierk

for six trumpets

Cirrus (1988) is a work for virtuoso trumpet players. It unfolds slowly and is directional and developmental. The work begins on one pitch in the trumpet's middle register, a held tone with crescendo and decrescendo. Very soon a punctuating 16th note is added at the top of the crescendo, and soon after that a slow glissando (played with the trumpet slide) is added to the phrase. These are the materials that are developed for the rest of the piece. Pitches are added to the phrase. The register expands as does the dynamic range. The 16th note figure is developed, first alternating between two pitches at a time and creating rhythmical phrases, and eventually becoming scalar passages. These passages get longer and longer, eventually moving up to the high register of the instrument, at the loudest and most articulated and fastest moving part of the piece, the climactic section. Then the scalar passages reverse their direction, coming down to the lowest register, where the glissando material has become faster, alternating back and forth between two tones. The scalar passages become shorter, dying out as the glissando again slows down. The work ends lyrically, reminding me of graceful cirrus clouds.

This is one of my pieces for ensembles of like-instruments from the 1980's. Some of my other works from this time are for 5 electric guitars, 18 trombones, 8 cellos, and 4 accordions. I consider each of these ensembles to be one "big instrument". In all of these pieces I used principles of what I call "exponential structure", in which elements such as time, harmonic motion, rhythmic and timbral development, sound density, etc. are controlled by exponential factors. These are not abstract constructs, but formal ideas based on the emotional thrust of the sounds and of the piece as a whole.

Recording is by Gary Trosclair, trumpet, from CD:

XI Records, XI 102 "Lois V Vierk: Simoom"

Lois V Vierk

for five electric guitars

This piece is for 5 electric guitars. The symbol "" means five, and is pronounced "go" in Japanese. Guitars strings are all tuned to E and microtonal variants of E. I think of the 5 guitars as acting together to form one massive instrument.

Go Guitars is concerned with sound, with expression, and with musical structure. It begins with relatively simple musical materials--strums, repeated pitches, and pulled string glissandi. These sounds are continuously developed in slow unfolding patterns. The sounds and phrases become more complex, finally developing into dynamic slide glissandi on all 6 strings, covering the entire range of the instrument.

This work utilizes principles of what I call “exponential structure”, in which time and rates of change of musical materials are governed by application of exponential factors. The piece builds in intensity, moving from a high volume opening to a frenzied finale.

I composed Go Guitars in Los Angeles in 1981 for John Scnheider. A CD of this piece performed by David Seidel is available on XI Records.

Click here to view the score.

Lois V Vierk and Anita Feldman

with choreographic contributions by Rhonda Price

for 2 tap dancers and 2 high voices

Swash is one of six music/tap dance works co-created by tap dance choreographer Anita Feldman and composer Lois V Vierk during the 1980s and 90s. From the very beginning, choreographer and composer worked together on all major aspects of each piece. They have always felt that in their work, music and dance are one. It's impossible to say where one leaves off and the other begins. The piece was named for the movement of water splashing up from an ocean wave onto the sand of the beach. This concept of "swash" inspired a wide variety of visual and sound ideas in the creation of the work.

Besides the above, some of the movement/sound materials are influenced by Hambone, an African-American music and dance form that uses the whole body as a percussion instrument to be slapped, brushed, etc. with one's hands. Hambone was originally developed by enslaved Africans in the US, Guyana and the Caribbean. In the US, use of percussion instruments by slaves was banned in most places, starting in the mid 18th century. This was done out of fear that people would be able to transmit messages via drum patterns that would incite revolution against the system of slavery. Hence the body itself became the source of percussive sounds.

In Swash the slapping, clapping and sliding of the hands not only contributes to sound rhythms, but also propels the body’s movements. As the piece progresses, the action of one foot hitting the other both contributes to the rhythms and propels the foot movements of the tap dancing in a similar way. The costumes in Swash were designed by Denise Mitchell. They were sewn from a vinyl type fabric, which permits hand slaps and brushes to be clearly audible. Dancers also wear hand “instruments” made of velcro to further augment the sound.

Some of the vocal sounds in Swash derive from the South African Zulu language, which is rich in musical slides and in a variety of tongue clicks. Adelaide Ngoneni Cele was the language consultant. The two singers in the piece, one on either side of the stage, are amplified, so that their percussive sounds blend with the dancers' taps and body slaps, and their sustained sounds and long glissandos can be heard flowing over the taps, enveloping the stage. The American folk form Eephing, a folk form that developed in the Appalachians during the 19th century, is also an influence in this piece. Eephing, incorporating both exhaled and inhaled sung syllables, was used to holler to farm animals. The last part of Swash brings out four women's names, American and Zulu: Anita (for Anita Feldman), Nokuthula (for Ms. Cele's mother), Nora (for the composer's mother) and Ngoneni (for Ngoneni Cele).

Swash was premiered at Woodpeckers Tap Dance Studio in New York City in 1994. Subsequent performances include Dance Theater Workshop (NYC), SUNY Albany, SUNY Buffalo and Columbia Festival of the Arts (MD). The tap parts have been performed by Anita Feldman, Rhonda Price and Sheri Laroche. Vocal parts have been performed by Dora Ohrenstein, Susan Botti and Lisa Bielawa.

Swash was made with a New State Council on the Arts Composer Commission and a New York Sate Council on the Arts Company Grant. Special thanks to the Foundation for Contemporary Arts for additional support.

Click here to view the score.

Click here to view the video recording.

Lois V Vierk and Anita Feldman

for solo tap dancer on Tap Dance Instrument (patented), cello, and marimba

Twister is one of six music/tap dance works co-created by tap dance choreographer Anita Feldman and composer Lois V Vierk during the 1980s and 90s and is one of a number of works that Feldman created with various composers for her Tap Dance Instrument (patented). It had long been Feldman's belief that music made by the feet was equal to music made by musical instruments. Desiring to dance on an instrument that would allow the dancers' feet to make resonant and varied music in any performance situation, she joined forces with San Francisco instrument builder Daniel Schmidt to design the modular and portable Tap Dance Instrument, which was then constructed by Schmidt in 1987. The Tap Dance Instrument consists of six platforms, each about 9 inches off the ground. They can be arranged in any desired configuration. Three of the modules are hexagons of approximately 5 feet across, made of different woods and constructed in varying ways, so that they have individual resonances and timbres. A fourth platform is the "Tap Marimba" with 7 pitched keys. These large wooden keys can be replaced with alternates, so a number of tunings are possible. The remaining two platforms are smaller and are topped with thick brass slabs. They ring like bells, one higher pitched and the other lower. Twister uses 4 of the 6 floor modules, namely the wooden oak module, the Tap Marimba, and the two brass-topped modules.

Twister originated from the artists' desire to make a piece that would feature a solo dancer's virtuoso tapping ability. The work combines tap, cello and marimba to create sounds and movements inspired by wind -- from gentle breezes to twisting tornadoes.

Feldman and Vierk worked together on all major aspects of the work. They experimented with different tapping techniques on each of the Tap Dance Instrument floor modules. They developed sound materials and phrases together, and these later turned into larger sections and then into the entire piece. The cello and marimba parts were composed to intertwine with the tap dance part.

Composer and choreographer commission fees for Twister were made possible by a grant from Meet The Composer's Composer/ Choreographer Project, a national program funded by the Ford Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trust.

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The premiere of Twister was at a music concert presented at Merkin Hall in New York City by the ISCM (International Society of Contemporary Music) on March 18, 1993. Anita Feldman Tap (Anita Feldman's dance company) performed Twister many times after that, at both dance and music venues. Performance highlights include New York City venues Town Hall, Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center, The Kitchen, and radio WNYC-fm, as well as at Dance Place in Washington DC. The piece was performed in Germany at Podewil concert hall in Berlin, Theaterhaus in Frankfurt, Galerie Rose in Hamburg and Pro Musica Nova Festival, Radio Bremen.

Over the years Twister has been danced by Anita Feldman and by Rhonda Price. Cellists have included Ted Mook, Mark Stewart and Bruce Wang. Marimba players have included Tigger Benford, Michael Lipsey, Gary Schall and Thad Wheeler. Costume design is by Denise Mitchell. Lighting design is by Sarah Sidman.

Audio live in concert recording, which plays while viewing the score, is by:

Anita Feldman dancing on Tap Dance InstrumentMark Stewart, celloTigger Benford, marimba 

Recorded live in concert at Merkin Hall, New York City, March 18, 1993

Click here to view the score and listen to the audio recording.

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Video recorded live in concert (a good look at the choreography, sound quality is fair) 

Rhonda Price dancing on Tap Dance InstrumentBruce Wang, celloThad Wheeler, marimba

Video recorded live in concert June 20, 1998, at The Kitchen (NYC)

Click here to view the video recording. 

Lois V Vierk and Anita Feldman

for 3 tap dancers on Tap  Dance Instrument (patented), 1 percussionist, and live electronics

HEXA exists in two versions: the original 1988 dance concert version, and a slightly shorter version which was used in a video produced by Jan Roberts-Breslin in 1990 and subsequently released on CD (audio track only) by Innova Records in 2010 (Innova 233 "25 Years of New York New Music: The NYFA Collection"). The audio recording of this slightly shorter version is notable because tap dance, percussion and electronic processing were recorded and mixed in a sound studio. The sound quality of the CD is excellent unlike, of course, that of video recordings made in concert. Hexa is a tap dance/music work and also stands alone as a music piece.

The original dance concert version has 316 measures and the CD version has 260 measures. Small cuts were made in the original version throughout the piece, to produce the CD version. Scores of both versions are included here. The CD version appears first and the original dance concert version follows.

Hexa is one of six music/tap dance works co-created by tap dance choreographer Anita Feldman and composer Lois V Vierk during the 1980s and 90s. This piece was the inaugural work for Feldman's Tap Dance Instrument (patented). It had long been Feldman's belief that music made by the feet was equal to music made by musical instruments. Desiring to dance on an instrument that would allow the dancers' feet to make resonant and varied music in any performance situation, she joined forces with San Francisco instrument builder Daniel Schmidt to design the modular and portable Tap Dance Instrument, which was then constructed by Schmidt in 1987. The Tap Dance Instrument consists of six platforms, each about 9 inches off the ground. They can be arranged in any desired configuration. Three of the modules are hexagons of approximately 5 feet across, made of different woods and constructed in varying ways, so that they have individual resonances and timbres. A fourth platform is the "Tap Marimba" with 7 pitched keys. These large wooden keys can be replaced with alternates, so a number of tunings are possible. The remaining two platforms are smaller and are topped with thick brass slabs. They ring like bells, one higher pitched and the other lower.

Hexa was named for all the sixes in the piece (hexagonal floor shapes, six feet on the Tap Dance Instrument, six percussion instruments played by the musician) and for the magical connotations of "hex" and "hex signs".

Opening the work, tap dancers' feet play a tune on the tap marimba, accompanied by the percussionist's muted cymbals. Dancers' arms, legs and bodies create visual designs as the tune moves the three performers back and forth across the tap marimba. Gradually the dancers move to non-pitched wood platforms and then to the brass floor modules.

Audio CD recording is by:

Anita Feldman, David Parker, Rhonda Price dancing on Tap Dance Instrument (patented)

Percussionist Gary Schall

Live electronics with Lexicon PCM 42 by Lois V Vierk

from CD Innova 233 "25 Years of New York New Music: The NYFA Collection"

Click here to view the CD on Innova.

Click here to view the score.

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Video recorded live in concert (a good look at the choreography but sound quality is mediocre) 

Tap dance performed by Anita Feldman, Tim Grandia, Rhonda Price

Kerry Meads, percussionist

Live electronics by Lois V Vierk

Video recorded live in concert June 20, 1998, at The Kitchen (NYC)

Click here to view the video recording.

Mercedes Otero

for mezzo soprano, flute, oboe, harp, and contrabass

ca. 16'15"

The poems used in “De Laguna” are from the book Laguna, by Alberto Arvelo Ramos, a contemporary Venezuelan poet. Translations by Mercedes Otero. 

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