McLean states, "This was in every way a breakthrough work for me, propelling me in one 11-minute swath of evocative sound out of the academic style I had been cultivating before. It was somewhat a reaction to the "ugly-serial" style of the 50's and 60's, and as such garnered considerable attention and performances.  It is true that, up to that time I had heard nothing like it, and my only desire was to flee as far from my older rather ponderous traditional style as possible. I was inspired by a somewhat universal but usually unrecognized sonic factor in our daily lives--that of a continuous pedal.  This is the everyday "hum" which accompanies us everywhere, be it the low traffic noise of a city, the punctuated pedals of a factory, the rush of wind in a desert, or the busy pedal of insect, bird, wind and water sounds in a forest. Wherever we go there is a sonic continuity which we usually ignore. When I began to listen to it, I found much beauty, melody, gesture, structure, and fascination. This was the background upon which I built the work, punctuated by the penetrating piano gestures.  The term "organic" best fits the style, which has stuck with me to this day.  Written for Robert Hamilton, the revised version was performed extensively and dedicated to David Burge, who is the performer on this video.  He subsequently wrote about it at length  in several issues of Contemporary Keyboard, and it was cited as one of the "best pieces of the 70's." John Rockwell of the New York Times in an Alice Tully Hall performance by Burge described it as "a most evocative, even pretty blend of ethereal and phantasmagorical tape sounds (all derived directly from a piano) and hammering, dense figures from the pianist".  Internationally performed by such touring artists as Yvar Mikashoff and James Avery, it became a staple of the contemporary piano literature." 

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All materials for complete performance are included free on this page.  Download the score and tape part, and follow along the score with the YouTube presentation

below. The free materials provided here (tape part and complete score) will enable a performer to realize a complete performance. All I ask is that you send me a program as attachment at pbmclean2@gmail.com.

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Dimensions II is © & ℗ 1975 Barton McLean