Première in July 2021
The glissotar or glissonic tarogato is a new woodwind instrument. It is based on the Hungarian tarogato, which is a single-reed instrument with a conical wooden body. The main novelty is that, instead of tone holes, it uses a longitudinal gap or slot on the tube of the instrument. The two sides of the slot are covered with magnetic foil which attract a magnetized ribbon on top. The ribbon is fixed on the upper end, stretched and lifted up from the lower end as a string on a violin. You can push down the ribbon anywhere, it will seal up perfectly above it, so you can produce any note in the pitch continuum. Daniel Vaczi is the driving force behind this new instrument, and, through the Sonus Foundation in Hungary, he has called for short new pieces for the glissotar. ‘Time to Question’ is a short solo piece making use of the instrument’s ability to play glissandi, as its name suggests.
Malcolm Singer 