Moler is an orchestral work written by the American composer Arlene Sierra. The work was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony, Ludovic Morlot, music director. It was first performed at Benaroya Hall on October 26, 2012.
Composition
Background Moler was commissioned by the Seattle Symphony as part of Sonic Evolution project: A showcase of new works from the younger generation of composers that would take inspiration, but no quotations, from popular music with a Seattle connection. Sierra composed "Moler" — Spanish for "to grind" — after selecting Alice In Chains' 1995 hit "Grind" as the inspiration for her contribution. Sierra states, "The band has a hard, visceral sound, which is something I try to do with my orchestral music,... I expected 'Grind' to be sexy, but it's about anxiety. So I was imagining the orchestra's teeth grinding in a certain way."
Structure Moler is a single-movement orchestral work with a duration of approximately nine minutes.
The title is Spanish for "to grind," and the piece was inspired by the composer's habit of grinding her teeth while sleeping. Moler is a dance-infused piece that uses the "grinding" idea to suggest unusual combinations of instrumental timbres and textures. Its overall musical narrative was partly suggested by the varying tensions and relaxations of sleep and dreaming.
The composer writes:
Instrumentation Moler calls for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes and English horn, two clarinets and bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, two trombones, tuba, percussion (two players: marimba, vibraphone, crotales, ratchet, cowbell, suspended cymbal, tam-tam, gongs [medium and high], woodblocks [medium and high], sand blocks, güiro, vibraslap, glockenspiel, snare drum, bass drum), timpani, harp, and strings
Reception In 2014, Moler was nominated for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in the Latin GRAMMY awards.
Moler appears on Sierra's second portrait CD with Bridge Records, Game of Attrition: Arlene Sierra, Vol. 2, released in 2014 that includes four orchestral works recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Jac Van Steen, conductor. As part of his review of the orchestral disc, Simon Cummings described Moler as "surely one of the best concert-openers of recent years."
References