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Moler for Symphony Orchestra

Moler is the Spanish word for ‘grind’, but this work takes its compositional impulses from a particular form of grinding, bruxism, that is the involuntary phenomenon of teeth grinding that occurs during sleep. When reading about bruxism Sierra came across medical research that revealed that a sleeper’s heart rate increases with the onset of bruxism and that fluctuations coincided with phases of dreaming. Using the resources of a large orchestra Moler replicates these characteristics, together with associated qualities of roughness, nervousness and energy.

Reflecting the relationship between bruxism and sleep patterns the movement shifts its energy levels, sometimes abruptly, between the frenetic and the relaxed, and back again. In addition to rhythmic parameters, orchestral motifs are allowed to ‘grind’ against each other with starkly contrasting pitch and timbral materials. Timbral roughness is achieved by contrasting muted trombones with low oboes, using flutter-tonguing in the brass, glissando effects in the timpani, and giving solo material to instruments including contrabassoon and muted bass trombone, among other orchestrational and compositional choices.

The notion of bruxism inspired a widening of dynamic and timbral contrasts in her scoring for orchestra, allowing her to arrive at a palette that is significantly different from her earlier work. Sierra now intends to apply this new resource to works with smaller forces and works that mix acoustic and electro-acoustic sources of sound.