Opus 980

Madrigal II (2012)

for Flute and Hammerchord

Clare Duncan, flute; Carson Cooman, hammerchord

Duration: 4 min.

Dedication: for Linnie Cunningham

Publisher: Soundspells Productions

Contact the composer regarding perusal or performance materials.

Madrigal II (2012) is scored for flute and hammerchord. Two freely lyrical outer sections surround a more energetic middle.

The hammerchord invented in 2002 by Robert Cunningham of Atlanta, Georgia. The Cunningham Hammerchord (U.S. Patent #6740800) is a keyboard-based stringed instrument employing a unique hammered striking mechanism to produce a tremolo sound reminiscent of the hammered dulcimer or the balalaika. The inventor describes it as follows: “A finger presses a key on the instrument, a hammer propels upward from a string and returns immediately downward from a back-check attached to the key. The hammer then strikes the string and rebounds in tremolo sounding of the note. The speed and pressure of finger touch set the loudness of the note, as in the piano, and the desired tremolo tempo.”