COMPOSER SPOTLIGHT: NICHOLAS E. M. OSBORN, "TWO SNAKES"

Sometimes, video games can become a source of inspiration for new musical works. The original Snake game became the spark that drove MCI composer Nicholas E. M. Osborn to create one of his latest works for flute and clarinet, Two Snakes. This piece receives its world premiere tonight at 8pm EST at Bowling Green State University by performers Taylor Francis and Kendra Sachs.

Read on to learn more about Nicholas's new piece and what drove him to create this new duet:

Describe your inspiration for composing the piece.
This work was inspired by the Snake video game genre.

What is the overall conception for the piece (for example, is it programmatic or abstract? Is there a specific formal structure, color, or musical device you employed?)
This is a process work in which the clarinet begins alone and the flute takes musical material from the clarinet, slowly until the flute is playing alone by the end of the work. Additionally, there is a second process of gradually rising trills throughout the work to represent the excitement of a game of snake as it becomes more difficult over time.

What are some of the goals you strove to accomplish in writing the work?
In this work, I hoped to represent a thought based on the concept of the game. Through this work, I hoped to achieve a gradual shift from one timbre to another over the course of the entire work.

What are some of the challenges you faced in writing the work?
In this work, the biggest challenge I faced was how to provide interest through the process. I eventually decided to add the second process with the trills to add a little more excitement.

Is there anything specific about your piece that you'd like your audience to look out for?
In this work, the audience should listen for how the two processes evolve: The flute slowly taking away material from the clarinet and the trills becoming louder, higher and more frequent.

​What do you hope your audience ultimately take away the most from hearing your work?
I hope that the audience leaves thinking about how things evolve slowly evolve over time, nothing ever stays in one place.