Atomic Variations

Saxophone (Soprano, Tenor, Baritone), Guitar, Percussion (Sus. Cym., Snare, Glock., Tom-tom, Cowbell, Brake Drum), and Piano

Composer Ethan Wickman says, “Set in five continuous variation movements, Atomic Variations explores some of the basic science, romance and popular mythology of the atomic bomb. Sometimes chillingly calculated, sometimes warm and humanized, the work makes an epic love story of the physics and forces that comprise the bomb. In its occasional lyricism, the work is never far from a sense of foreboding inevitability – the consequences of which, though the result of natural, even predictable processes, possess the most unthinkable known to humanity.” The five movements of Atomic Variations are titled: I. Inertia, II. Pas de Deux, III. Separation Anxiety, IV. Murder by Numbers and V. None Shall Sleep (after Giacomo Puccini).