# Liquid Interface

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'''''Liquid Interface''''' is a [symphony](/source/symphony) in four movements for [electronica](/source/electronica) and [orchestra](/source/orchestra) by the American composer [Mason Bates](/source/Mason_Bates).  The work was commissioned by the [National Symphony Orchestra](/source/National_Symphony_Orchestra) and was premiered February 22, 2007 in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), with the orchestra led by [conductor](/source/Conducting) [Leonard Slatkin](/source/Leonard_Slatkin).  The piece is dedicated to composer [John Corigliano](/source/John_Corigliano).<ref name="Score">[Bates, Mason](/source/Mason_Bates) (2007). [http://www.masonbates.com/work/work-liquidinterface.html Liquid Interface: Program Note]. Retrieved July 8, 2015.</ref><ref name="WashPost">{{cite web |last=Malone |first=Andrew Lindemann |title=From NSO, Electronic Beauty |work=[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post) |date=February 23, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/22/AR2007022202260.html |accessdate=July 8, 2015}}</ref>

==Composition==
===Style and inspiration===
Bates first drew inspiration for the symphony from bodies of water.  Bates detailed this inception in the score program notes, writing:{{quote|Water has influenced countless musical endeavors - ''[La Mer](/source/La_mer_(Debussy))'' and [Siegfried's Rhine Journey](/source/G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung) quickly come to mind - but it was only after living on Berlin's enormous [Lake Wannsee](/source/Wannsee) did I become consumed with a new take on the idea. Over the course of barely two months, I watched this huge body of water transform from an ice sheet thick enough to support sausage venders, to a refreshing swimming destination heavy with humidity. If the play of the waves inspired Debussy, then what about water in its variety of forms?<ref name="Score" />}}
The form of ''Liquid Interface'' thus follows the progression of water in a world of increasing [global warming](/source/global_warming).  The third movement "Crescent City" also features a musical tribute to the city of [New Orleans](/source/New_Orleans) through the use of [Dixieland](/source/Dixieland) swing.<ref name="Score" />

===Structure===
''Liquid Interface'' has a duration of roughly 25 minutes and is composed in four [movements](/source/Movement_(music)):<ref name="Score" />
#Glaciers Calving 
#Scherzo Liquido
#Crescent City
#On the Wannsee

===Instrumentation===
''Liquid Interface'' is scored for electronica and orchestra, comprising three [flutes](/source/Western_concert_flute) (all doubling [piccolo](/source/piccolo)), three [oboe](/source/oboe)s (3rd doubling [English horn](/source/Cor_anglais)), three [clarinet](/source/clarinet)s (3rd doubling [bass clarinet](/source/bass_clarinet) and [E-flat clarinet](/source/E-flat_clarinet)), three [bassoon](/source/bassoon)s (3rd doubling [contrabassoon](/source/contrabassoon)), four [French horn](/source/French_horn)s, three [trumpet](/source/trumpet)s, two [tenor trombone](/source/trombone)s, [bass trombone](/source/bass_trombone), [tuba](/source/tuba), three percussionists, [harp](/source/Pedal_harp), [piano](/source/piano), and [strings](/source/String_section).<ref name="Score" />

==Reception==
Reviewing the world premiere, Andrew Lindemann Malone of ''[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)'' lauded the work, saying it "surpassed in sheer sonic beauty even the works by [Mendelssohn](/source/Felix_Mendelssohn) and [Tchaikovsky](/source/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky) that rounded out the program."  Malone further remarked:{{quote|Using a truly gigantic orchestra — the program listed a huge battery of woodwinds and 17 types of percussion, not counting the laptop — Bates renders these scenes primarily with tone colors: humid clouds of strings tinged with brass, rising from the calved glaciers; a sprawling spray of pointillist squiggles for the droplets; and a glorious haze coming from the Wannsee that felt unreal in the best sense.<ref name="WashPost" />}}
Joshua Kosman of the ''[San Francisco Chronicle](/source/San_Francisco_Chronicle)'' wrote, "the electronic parts of ''Liquid Interface'' are simultaneously noteworthy and yet not really the point of the exercise. They are, rather, one additional resource among many that Bates uses in service of a cogent and beautiful musical narrative."<ref>{{cite web |last=Kosman |first=Joshua |title=S.F. Symphony review: Bates' exciting 'Liquid Interface' |work=[San Francisco Chronicle](/source/San_Francisco_Chronicle) |date=January 16, 2014 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/S-F-Symphony-review-Bates-exciting-Liquid-5149465.php |accessdate=July 8, 2015}}</ref>  [Margaret Sandresky](/source/Margaret_Sandresky) of the ''[Winston-Salem Journal](/source/Winston-Salem_Journal)'' said, "Aside from the wide variety of electronic sound, his orchestration of the piece was dazzling."<ref>{{cite web |last=Sandresky |first=Margaret |title=Symphony ends its season with a bang |work=[Winston-Salem Journal](/source/Winston-Salem_Journal) |date=May 13, 2013 |url=http://www.journalnow.com/relishnow/the_arts/performing_arts/symphony-ends-its-season-with-a-bang/article_e2c7f9d6-bb7b-11e2-9cf9-0019bb30f31a.html |accessdate=July 14, 2015}}</ref>  John von Rhein of the ''[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune)'' also praised the piece, remarking:{{quote|The electronica ranges from actual sounds of calving Antarctic glaciers and creaking ships' masts to percussive beats and synthesized snaps, crackles, pops and trip-hop rhythms that fan out over the orchestra like monstrous ocean waves. The music goes down easily, rather too easily as far as I was concerned. [...] But it drew a tight, well organized performance from Thursday's performers and whoops of delight from the audience.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rhein |first=John von |title=Jaap Van Zweden once again proves his musical mettle with CSO |work=[Chicago Tribune](/source/Chicago_Tribune) |date=May 31, 2013 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/05/31/jaap-van-zweden-once-again-proves-his-musical-mettle-with-cso/ |access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Mason Bates}}
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Category:2007 compositions
Category:21st-century classical music
Category:Music commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Liquid Interface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_Interface) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_Interface?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.