Opening page of Air Lines
On the last day of 2025 I completed a new piece for two harmonicas, titled Air lines. It calls for a Hohner Marine Band in A major, and a chromatic harp in C. Fun fact: the Marine Band is 7-limit just-tempered, while the chromatic is equal-tempered. So "unison" and enharmonic pitches are noticeably off. I play quite a bit on those intriguing discrepancies.
Air lines calls for a pitch-shifting toy bullhorn; there's some singing into the harp, plus a few other extended techniques.
The piece actually began in a dream in which a disembodied hand gave me a beautiful Art Deco harmonica. A stentorian voice said to me, "You're not listening – it's a very fine instrument." Most likely, the premiere will take the form of a video in which I play both parts. Stay tuned for details…