Steam:

Steam takes the listener into a whimsical fantasy world in which an eccentric inventor is creating a flying machine. The melodies and rhythms found throughout the piece are designed to feel awkward and uncanny, yet at the same time fun and endearing. The first movement takes listeners inside the inventor's workshop where they can find all of the unusual tools and contraptions that live there. The second movement paints a picture of the inventor as a well-to-do gentleman who is a bit eccentric by taking a tonal melody and distorting it to fit inside an octatonic framework. The third movement portrays a complex yet slightly clunky contraption through rhythmic intricacies and the use of such gestures as clarinet squeaks, extreme jumps in register, and breathy flute harmonics. The fourth movement evokes the inventor's feelings as he takes his new flying machine out for a spin.