Prof. David Fulmer’s Sky’s Acetylene was written for and commissioned by the New York Philharmonic on the occasion of their 175th birthday for their adventurous CONTACT! series. Fulmer has deftly created a unique musical eco-system in Sky’s Acetylene, one in which the inexorable structural direction of the work is sometimes shrouded behind the sensual moment-to-moment texture. The trajectory of the piece is subtly reflected in the evolution of the flute register — starting with low utterances and slithering lines on the bass flute, the part ascends through athletic passagework on the C flute before closing with ethereal piccolo textures that fade into atmospheric harmonics in the harp and piano.
