Turnarounds

The premises of Turnarounds are rooted in the perception of music as transformation of energy. Potential energy is transformed to kinetic energy with the release of the first statement and with any following event. The ratio between repetition and change determine the effectiveness of energy utilization. Change creates a forward motion; repetition creates only the illusion of motion.

Systematic organization of extended techniques, which are manipulated through various matrix operations, forms fundamental structure of the piece. Both the horn part and the tape part are products of this system. The sound source of the tape is audio recordings of the horn's extended techniques. In two sections of the piece the performer is asked to choose a path within an array of elements presented to him in a cyclic notation. These unpredictable repeated cycles are the inspiration for the title of the piece.

Danie's Dance

My mother, Danielle Dugre, often goes by Dani. With encouragement from a friend to compose a piano trio, I decided to write a virtuosic and dance-like one movement piece about my mother's character. A sense of adventure in the development and variations on the opening motive reflects her love for travel and interest in foreign places. Having the opening motive in solo violin seemed fitting given the analog to the image of the perpetually traveling fiddler. Melodic doublings at the 5th in the slow section create a medieval sound, representing her interest in ancient customs and cultures. I picture her enjoying the company of, and feasting with, new friends in foreign lands.

Colloquy

Colloquy, composed in the fall of 2007, was my exploration into the musical elements that could unify this eclectic instrumentation. The form is that of a loose arch, in which the beginning and ending sections feature imitative conversation between the instruments. The main goal of the middle section was to accentuate in the flute the qualities of the percussion instruments, and to find ways to make the percussion more lyrical (like the flute).

Song Cycle for Haruki Murakami

The impetus of this work was four quotes out of Haruki Murakami's novel "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles." The intention was to create a kind of pseudo-narrative out of just these four quotes; creating a new story out of fragments of the original. But beyond this, I wanted each movement of the work to be markedly different, thus depending on the visual presence of the quotes for coherency. Sonically, Murakami's work made it very evident to me that, in the words of his main character, it should be "something concrete" (a phrase he often used to try and make sense out of the baffling world that surrounded him). Thus, the foundation material was derived from several ambient recordings that took place both inside and outside of my apartment in Chicago. These recordings were used to symbolize the "inner" and "outer" worlds; the interactions and tensions between which served to be the conceptual focus of my piece as it likewise was with Murakami. Soloists (cello, drum set, flute, and clarinet respectfully) were added in order to comment on these sonic environments and lend a sense of humanity and drama to the work.

Mindsets of Sensual Loneliness

Mindsets of Sensual Loneliness is a 12 minute solo double bass piece written in three movements, Indifference, Delusional, and Desperate. Each movement has a distinct character of its own, although as the piece progresses, ideas from the first come back to "haunt" the second, and ideas from both the first and second movement do the same to the third.

Indifference is played 'pizzicato,' and is characterized by a rather laid back attitude-small bursts of energy that build up some tension but retain the static mood. Delusional features a very muddy sound presented by long, hanging double stops alongside fast passages in the low register of the bass. The finale, Desperate, a rushed, high energy movement, takes the repeated note motive from the first movement, but behaves somewhat likes a race car-switching gears of energy until it reaches the finish line.

Four Sculptures

Four Sculptures is inspired by four sculptures by Derek Parker.

I. Fifteen Feet Closer to the Sky represents two ascending metal wires that begin conjoined and gradually separate. At the tip of each wire is a metal "paper airplane." The intertwining lines of the two trumpets culminate at the top of the sculpture where a flurry of activity sends the paper airplanes shooting off into the sky until all we can see are receding specks disappearing into the distance.

II. Submarine Egg depicts a submarine in a bird's nest. In conversations with the artist, I learned that the sculpture represents Parker's six years of service in the United States Navy and how the military became his home away from home. The movement references The Star Spangled Banner through fragmentation of the lines "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" and "and the home of the brave."

III. In Memoriam - The movement is loosely inspired by Parker's sculpture, Precipice, which consists of a lone metal chair fastened to a long wooden plank. The minimalist design of the sculpture and isolation of the chair evoke a sense of deep contemplation.

IV. Going Up the Down Side depicts a small boat traveling up the "down side" of a tall metal ramp. The work represents the upward struggle of the tiny boat against the downward force of the metal ramp. Will the boat ever reach the top?

Until the Sea The only sound source material used in the electronic portion of the piece is recordings of the cello, played by cellist Sophie Webber. These recordings have been subjected to various computer-generated processes. When starting to compose this piece my initial idea was to have the live cello play simple and somewhat folk-like melodies, while the tape portion (made of processed cello sounds) paints an abstract and other-worldly soundscape. This idea later evolved in diverse ways, yet exploring the relationship between the cello and this tape soundscape remained a central element of the compositional process: how can the cello be reflected upon itself, how can it be set against its own sonorous sub-conscious, what kind of metaphors might be evoked by such a relationship?

Until the Sea is dedicated to the memory of Joseph Dorfman (1940-2006), my first composition teacher. I feel that I will never stop being deeply inspired by his guidance, music and spirit.