Dorothy Hindman - Blow by Blow (2020)

Dorothy Hindman’s musical journey took a circuitous route. From studying rock and electronic music to finding a home writing music for ensembles, Hindman built her unique musical language from seemingly disparate parts. Her music often finds itself in between aesthetics, borrowing from both punk/grunge music and a kind of angular pattern based music.

Blow by Blow showcases new works for winds and percussion by one of today’s most energetic composers. A double-album, one-two punch traversing three decades of musical territory, it pulses and soars, hammers and roars – popping and crackling with harnessed energy.

Insistent rhythms whip riffs into intricate, towering formations in Mechanisms for flute ensemble, Cascade for saxophone ensemble, and Fission for concert band. Shimmering colors waft equally through the wind-up clockwork of Hindman’s Drift (for sax quartet) and Multiverses (for percussion quartet), and the nebulous soundscapes and solos of Trembling for flute, Soliloquy for Clarinet, Beyond the Cloud of Unknowing for marimba, and Untitled I. An air of bouncy humor suffuses the short, sweet Big Fun for baritone saxophone, CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE for reed quintet, and Lost in Translation for soprano saxophone, while Stuart Gerber’s breathtaking, thundering Tapping the Furnace for vocalizing percussionist leaves behind a deafening wake.

In over 75 works fusing a punk/grunge background with classical refinement, Dorothy Hindman has pushed the boundaries of the technically possible with unique, visceral elegance. A tumultuous, often dangerous childhood fuels much of Hindman’s music, but has also energized decades of volunteerism and advocacy, especially in new music. At Birmingham-Southern College, Hindman’s music theory courses paired college students with underprivileged 5th graders to write, compose, and perform original youth operas. Hindman’s Justly Tuned concert series under the auspices of the Foundation for Emerging Technologies and the Arts (FETA), presents new music that engages with social and political issues, exploring music as communication, commentary, and catalyst for change, and promoting unheard stories, underserved voices, and fresh ideas. In 2012, Hindman joined the faculty at the Frost School of Music, where she is an Associate Professor of Composition