Performed on specially constructed and tuned percussion instruments, industrial metals, wood and gongs, Michael Gordon’s Field of Vision reveals a complex spectrum of overtones and resonances. The large number of percussionists, and the vast performance field, invoke a sweeping perspective that suggests the architectural movement of sound.

Produced by Doug Perkins and performed by the University of Michigan Percussion Ensemble, the piece is meant to induce, in Gordon’s words, a quasi-meditative, almost ecstatic state — for performer and audience alike. “It’s where attention sharpens and dissolves, and thoughts focus and drift,” he explains. “In the end, I think the music emerges as an exploration of space itself. Who can tune space? The answer becomes collective: the performers, the instruments, the listeners.”