premiered October 28, 2016, by Caballito Negro at Center for New Music, San Fransisco, California
“Maverick composer Mark Applebaum describes bound as ‘an impressively unique piece, in its form and affect.’ As the commissioning duo, Caballito Negro, we had the pleasure of bringing this piece to life... bound is a satisfying mix of score and improvisation, unable to be contained by any label other than perhaps “post-genre”. bound is lush in timbral sensitivities (particularly aeolian alto flute and bowed vibraphone) and rhythmic groove from the ocarina, flute, and percussion. This work expresses bittersweet humor and all kinds of sorrows, and it paired brilliantly with apocalyptic animation video, in concerts that were a response to the grief of the 2016 US presidential election.” — Tessa Brinckman, flutist
Program Note
Inspired by lessoixante-huitards, boundexamines a strain against limitation, summoning a spirit of resistance against systems of absolute, processed compositional control, an aspiration akin to those struggling for actual revolution in the not-so-distant past.