From the outset I have written music utilizing a limited set of compositional tools and structures: fixed-pitch groups, metric partitions, and schematic imprints to name a few. The resulting works to date composed within these well-defined systems have been exclusively for chamber ensembles and solo instruments. I feel that it is through these intimate mediums that direct expression of the musical idea approaches its purest realization.
Instrumental Cycles
Music For A Closed Space
Music for a Closed Space is an instrumental cycle written for clarinet, viola, and cello. Divided into twenty-four 2’30” groups, each piece consists of 7 fixed pitches set contrapuntally over 53 measures with a total duration of approximately 1 hour. Whether in live performance, recording, or score analysis, the cycle is intended to be heard or examined as a continuous, uninterrupted experience.
KAFKAMUSIK Suite
The KAFKAMUSIK Suite is a programmatic instrumental cycle based upon the writings of Czech-born, German-language writer Franz Kafka. Scored for clarinet, violin, guitar, and cello, the Suite is adapted from the 90-minute duodrama, The Poetics of Silence, The Necessity of Form: KAFKAMUSIK.
R Trilogy
3R For Solo Cello
3R for solo cello is set in 3 discrete regions. A single 12-note fixed-pitch set is used throughout the piece. (Two very brief transpositions occur in the first and third regions.) Region I is organized by five separate tempos in the form of a measured accelerando. Divided into two parts, each section begins with a long, single, sustained pitch. The function of Region I within 3R is twofold. First, it introduces, one at a time, the notes of the fixed-pitch set. More importantly however, the slow introduction outlines the region’s internal boundaries in the form of time blocks, which are developed and assembled as individual lines, or in layers.
The closing bars of Region I metrically elide into Region 2, also organized by a series related tempo changes. The work’s central area, characterized by block chords, explores the harmonic relationships within the fixed-pitch set. The intervallic juxtapositions between notes are cast in vertical groupings of 2, 3, and 4 notes, freely mixed in a variety of durations.
The closing bars of Region 2 metrically elide into Region 3, divided by tempo into two subsections. The concluding area of the piece is organized by linear pitch blocks of varying duration, occurring in rapid succession with periodic alterations in tempo. As the internal concentration within the blocks increases, they build and accumulate before finally dispersing into the work’s concluding, sustained chords.
3R Structural Design by Tempo (All Metronome Values are at the Quarter Note)
Region I
52 – 54 – 57.5 – 63 – 70
Region II
70 – 78.5 – 92 – 108 – 59.5
Region III
59.5 – 45
Radiate
Radiate is an instrumental cycle written for alto flute, bass clarinet, percussion, violin, and cello. Divided into four contrasting sections, the piece represents the intersection between schematic imprint composition and dynamic form. The title reflects the periodic appearance in Parts I and III of pitch and motivic material taken from 2R for cello solo, which appears as Part IV. In live performance the work is intended to be heard as a continuous, uninterrupted experience.
