The Floating World
for orchestra

Stephen Andrew Taylor, 2004 (rev. 2007)

"Orange Habitat " by Hua Nian

Commissioned by Libertyville High School and premiered December 19, 2004, by the Libertyville High School Orchestra at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, conducted by Jeremy Marino.

TheFloatingWorld.mp3 (8:30) University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Donald Schleicher

Program Note

The Floating World tries to convey a sense of danger: our lives and the whole world as a bubble, our existence precarious. A repeated, pounding rhythm alternates with weird fragments of a melody that keep spiraling out of control. After a brief lyrical episode, techno-inspired rhythms take over and bring the music to a crisis. The coda is an apotheosis of the melodic fragments, which inexorably rise to the highest notes possible.



Last updated October 12, 2008 by Stephen Andrew Taylor, [email protected]