DESCRIPTION:
This wonderful recording by my chamber ensemble Antares unfortunately never found a home on CD so I am posting here so that it may be listened to by all! This is the first complete recording of the work.

Clarinet - Garrick Zoeter
Violin - Vesselin Gellev
Cello - Rebecca Patterson
Piano - Eric Huebner

Program Notes:
Spiral VI is the sixth work in succession that follows a metaphorical spiral through a multiple series of manipulations if the two versions of Grand Spiral (for symphonic band and later for orchestra) are counted as two separate pieces. It is scored for violin, clarinet, cello, and piano, and was commissioned by Harold Newman for the Aeolian Chamber Players in 1992. It had its world premiere that same year by this group in Strasbourg, Germany. Each of Ung's spiral pieces is similar in that they all have individual notes or phrases that are constantly being reworked, but each is unique and, according to where they fall in the color spectrum (blue-yellow), display different shades of "green." Both Asian and Western elements are readily discernible in Spiral VI, probably one of Ung's best examples of achieving a true integration of these ideas. Spiral VI begins with a rapid series of intervals outlining a diminished seventh, establishing a firm ground on C-sharp. This pattern is heard once more toward the end with a softer perfect fifth interval and a cadence on G. From the initial C-sharp the piece moves forward through a progression of pitches, enunciated by the piano, that function as harmonic spheres. It is no accident that this progression outlines a diminished fifth, an interval used repeatedly in Spiral VI. A soulful violin solo that briefly recalls pre-atonal Schoenberg (Verklärte Nacht comes to mind) winds sinuously over a veiled heterophonic texture and is eventually picked up by both the clarinet and cello. There are just enough exotic sonorities to add an interesting contrast to the traditional Western notation. Most of these effects occur in the violin and piano. For example, the piano player is directed to "scrape" the ground string on several occasions. Playing near or over the bridge, occasional note bending, and the use of high harmonic glissandos are part of this exotic mix. Spiral VI is constantly changing, expanding, or contracting, and has been described as having a "floating" feeling despite its precise rhythmic notation.