Thomas Clark – composer / digital artist

Tag: string theory

  • River Rays

    2026 . . . synthesized multimedia . . . 7:00

    String Theory (2018, TC-91) was an original composition inspired by physicists’ theory of that name. The theory or its expansion, M Theory, built the mind-blowing hypothesis that all matter, even the tiniest subatomic particles like quarks, electrons, even photons, are not actually particles but inconceivably tiny, constantly spinning loops of energy.

    A musical metaphor, rapidly looping bright sounds, became “Fermi Lab” in Chicago Sketches (2019) for flute choir. Now it becomes the synthesized soundtrack for animated photos of some beautiful rivers in Montana, Colorado, and elsewhere.

    View the YouTube video

  • String Theory

    2018 . . . solo soprano saxophone and sax quartet (2 alto, ten, bari) . . . Duration 7:30

    String Theory – In Memoriam Larry Austin is based on the idea current in particle physics that subatomic particles of matter at the deepest fundamental level are all spinning strings of energy. Translated into music by analogy, small three-note segments of a diatonic scale (C Major) become ostinatos spun simultaneously at subtly or wildly different speeds. This is an example of an abstract musical idea like those at the core of much of the experimental music of pioneering composer Larry Austin (1930 – 2018), Clark’s 40-year colleague, collaborator and friend.

    To request performance materials and permission, email BMI-affiliated composer Thomas Clark, tc24@txstate.edu.