Alvin Curran

Listening Guide. Harmonic Clouds: Alvin Curran (b. 1938), Endangered Species (2010).

Endangered Species by American composer Curran is comprised entirely of four-note arpeggios. The lower three notes often form functional chords used in a highly chromatic, non-functional context, although there is voice-leading. Combined with an inverted pedal in the highest note, the overall effect is one of harmonic clouds (the sostenuto pedal is depressed throughout) that blur into one another in a quietly searching, elegaic manner.