{"id":357,"date":"2021-03-16T17:59:07","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T17:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/program_note\/hammers\/"},"modified":"2025-06-16T17:10:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T17:10:42","slug":"hammers","status":"publish","type":"program_note","link":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/program_note\/hammers\/","title":{"rendered":"Hammers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> This unusual composition for solo flute and four percussionists is unique in a variety of ways, but typical of the wide-ranging musical imagination of the composer.&nbsp; She is clearly in the forefront of avant-garde composers for flute with various other instruments, but is increasingly writing for larger ensembles, as well.&nbsp; A virtuoso performer, Loggins-Hull is engaged in an active career of composing and performing, not only in the New York City area, but nationally, as well.&nbsp; A graduate of SUNY Purchase in flute performance, she also holds a MA in composition from NYU.&nbsp; The breadth of her music activities is impressive:&nbsp; composition, solo performances, television, radio, movies\u2014you name it.&nbsp; To that, she adds a dedicated career in education at a variety of distinguished institutions.<\/p>\n<p> Her musical style is nothing, if not imaginative.&nbsp; Electronic effects, elaborate percussion, vocals for the flutist, she consistently challenges the listener in a constant kaleidoscope of novel and creative musical concepts.&nbsp; <em>Hammers <\/em>is a frenetic, herky-jerky composition for solo flute and percussion ensemble\u2014the latter composed primarily of an imposing variety of drums, played by four percussionists.&nbsp; Formally, it\u2019s rather like a rondo, that is, a musical idea that begins and ends a composition, and which returns from time to time, with a somewhat limited number of contrasting ideas heard in between.<\/p>\n<p> The first idea is a kind of \u201chiccupping\u201d fragment that is\u2014well\u2014\u201chammered\u201d away at, followed by a completely different idea of sustained, soft conjunct tones down low.&nbsp; These ideas alternate until we reached the more-or-less middle of the composition,&nbsp;that takes us to the higher regions of the flute range.&nbsp; The percussion section is featured in an interlude before a return to the exploration of the ideas from first section that brings us to an end of this rather remarkable piece.&nbsp; Admittedly, most of us would find the work an advanced exercise in musical style.&nbsp; Yet, one commentator aptly has pointed out that it has more than a little in common with the frenzied duet between violin and percussion that ends Stravinsky\u2019s classic chamber work <em>L\u2019Histoire du soldat<\/em> of a century ago!<\/p>\n<p> &#8211;Wm. E. Runyan<\/p>\n<p>\u00a92022 William E. Runyan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"program_note_tax":[142],"class_list":["post-357","program_note","type-program_note","status-publish","hentry","program_note_tax-allisonloggins-hull"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note\/357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program_note"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_note_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note_tax?post=357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}