Michael Abels: Global Warming

Global Warming was written around the time of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, when the Cold War was ending. Living in Los Angeles, I've been able to learn about music from around the world simply by opening the window; among my neighbors are immigrants from every corner of the world. I was intrigued by the similarities between folk music of divergent cultures, and decided to write a piece that celebrates these common threads as well as the sudden improvement in international relations that was occurring. Since the piece was commissioned for an orchestra in the desert city of Phoenix, AZ, "global warming" was the title that seemed to incorporate all these ideas best.

The opening section of the piece is a vision of the traditional idea of global warming - a vast desert, the relentless heat punctuated by the buzzing of cicadas, and an anguished, frenetic violin solo. This scene gives way to several episodes reminiscent of folk music of various cultures, most noticeably Irish and Middle Eastern. At the climax of the piece, a Middle Eastern nelody is transformed, through gradual changes in rhythm and ornamentation, back into the Irish refrain, and many counter-melodies join in to present a noisy yet harmonious world village. This joyous moment is broken by a sudden return to the stark vision of the opening, leaving it to the listener to decide which image may more accurately reflect the future.

Length: 8:00

Written: 1991

Instrumentation:
2,1 2(1 opt) 22; 4331; timp, 2 perc, hp; stgs

Performance Highlights:
Over 100 performances, including Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas & Detroit

Audio Samples: Clip one, Clip two

Publisher: Subito Music Corporation

Buy it on CD: Amazon.com

"Global Warming conveys the post-Cold War opening of communications between countries in music that blends many folk influences. The atmosphere initially is arid, with buzzes of cicadas (percussion) and Middle Eastern chants (solo violin and cello) that give way to a jubilant Irish tune… The juxtaposition of elements is unleashed in an irresistible display of orchestral color."
-- Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Equally appealing was Global Warming, a charming eight-minute homily by Los Angeles composer Michael Abels. The piece preaches a one-world message by morphing an Irish jig into African folk music into Mideastern strains and back... Abels' elan and technical mastery are irresistible."
-- San Francisco Chronicle

"It is a celebration of global healing in places like the Middle East and Ireland…it was partly a soothing and partly a refreshingly exciting experience."
-- The Star, Johannesburg, South Africa

"…an entrancing, deftly orchestrated collage of folk music styles from around the world…"
-- Union-News (Springfield, MA)

"The performances were crisp and direct. Abels' work showed a keen ear for musical color and a deft ability to adapt some structural elements from popular music into the symphonic idiom."
-- Houston Chronicle

"Global Warming proved to be a colorful blend of international folk-music idioms, adapted for orchestra to suggest the pungent quality they would have if performed on indigenous instruments."
--The Houston Post

"...Abels' music borrows from world music traditions, adding diverse rhythmic and melodic elements to orchestration possibilities for a symphony orchestra. A superb composition performed with gusto, African rhythms met music from India and beyond to create a musical dialogue far superior to actual current historical events. As 20th-Century composition goes, Global Warming is highly accessible and tuneful, and was received with enthusiastic applause by the capacity crowd."
-- Springfield (MA) Union-News