Creation : 14/03/2019, Théâtre de Hautepierre, Strasbourg, France
Musicians : minimum of 3 percussionists
Command : Percussions de Strasbourg
Duration : 8′
An air mass is an area of the atmosphere where the temperature and humidity conditions are homogeneous. The main motif that appears and is repeated throughout the piece is presented in tutti at the very beginning. The idea of rhythm is fundamental to Air Mass, which is constantly subject to distortion, pressure, breakdown and disorder. The composer did not specify a tempo, leaving the choice of tempo to the performers, who must maintain the same tempo from the beginning to the end of the piece. Designed for six voices, Air Mass can be performed without limit of instruments or number of performers. Wen-chi Tsai recommends a minimum of three performers but does not set a maximum. While keeping the three registers (high, medium and low), the performers have the freedom to choose the actual notes they want to play. They also have the possibility to change instruments and tone colours.