Concerto for Computer and Orchestra

"Concerto for Computer-Synthesized Tape and Orchestra" was composed in 1987, and is dedicated to the memory of three of the composer?s Philadelphia friends: Harold Feldman, and Vincent and Dorothea Persichetti. The title of the work reflects the fact that the ?soloist? in this concerto is the tape, and also that the orchestra assumes its traditional role in a concerto. This does not mean that the orchestra is always an ?accompaniment? to the tape ? at times it assumes an equal status and at times it is of primary importance. however, the basic primacy of the tape is emphasized by the fact that the tape has extended ?cadenza? about two-thirds of the way through the work. The composition is in one extended movement, modeled to a large extent upon the traditional nineteenth-century concerto first movement, though elements of the three-movement concerto form are present. The tape was realized at the University of Illinois on an IBM 3081 digital computer, using the MUSIC360 language for digital sound synthesis. Digital/analog conversion used the facilities of the University of Illinois Computer Music Laboratory.