The Sixth Stream
For Large Ensemble:
Woodwind Quintet
Brass Quintet
String Quartet
Jazz Quintet (Trumpet/Rap, Tenor Sax/Bass Clarinet, Piano/Synthesizer, Acoustic/Electric Bass, Drums)
Fixed Media
Length- 19:30 Minutes
Program Notes-
In 1957, composer Gunther Schuller coined the term “third-stream,” referring to a contemporary fusion of jazz and classical music. This innovative approach to music was explored by artists such as Miles Davis, Gil Evans, and The Modern Jazz Quartet. Their music explored the potential avenues of concert music integrating with jazz improvisation, as well as incorporating jazz harmony into classical ensembles. One of the albums most associated with Third-Stream music is Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain. The iconic sound of Miles’ muted trumpet soaring over the lush orchestral writing of Gil Evans created one of the most colorful and vibrant explorations of the Third-Stream genre. Remnants of this music can be found across the world in contemporary jazz music, but why does Third-Stream music have to be modeled in the same capacity as it was in the late 1950s?
The Sixth Stream is an exploration of how Third-Stream music can be interpreted in the 21st
Century. Since the 1950s, musicians have developed many new genres with each containing a
specific identity. While maintaining the foundation of Third-Stream music (that being the integration of classical and jazz music), contemporary genres can also be incorporated within the confines of Third-Stream. The Sixth Stream refers to the amplification and expansion of the foundational ideas of Third-Stream music. The Sixth Stream, though performed as one continuous work, contains six movements (aka. streams). The first stream is dedicated to the ideas of Third-Stream music. The opening trumpet solo introduces the main theme inspired the style of Miles Davis. The orchestral writing is inspired by the music of Gil Evans and sets a foundational reference of Third-Stream music. The next five streams reference and incorporate another contemporary musical genre that was created after the inception of Third-Stream music. These streams take an element or fragment of that theme and create a new melodic idea inspired by a specific motif. The second stream introduces concepts of spectralism with contemporary extended techniques, as well as avant garde jazz. The third stream incorporates electronic music as well as post-minimalist writing. Elements of hip-hop and rap appear in the fourth stream. The fifth stream is dedicated to ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music), a record label that presents and curates contemporary third-stream music. The sixth and final stream incorporates elements of rock music.
Composed for the 2023-2024 All Stamps Ensemble at the Frost School of Music, this piece highlights the virtuosity of each chamber ensemble (Woodwind Quintet, Brass Quintet, String Quartet, and Jazz Quintet) within a larger orchestration. Fostering Frost’s vision of musical innovation through Cross-genre music, this piece aims to innovate and defy expectations within a contemporary classical setting.