Reflected Arcs (2018, rev. 2022)

for Violin and Piano

Duration: 11 min

Program Note

Reflected Arcs is my first piece to make a thorough exploration of musical symmetry and reflections. Much like seeing your reversed self in a mirror, the reflections in the piece are repetitions of a musical idea, but with one significant parameter inverted. For example, the second movement introduces a floating, sliding melody in the violin - this melodic line reappears in the fourth movement, but now the register has been flipped from high to low. The first and fifth movements are similarly linked; in the first
movement the piano plays a triadic chord progression while the violin plays scurrying atonal figuration, and in the fifth movement the roles are reversed. The third movement contains symmetry within itself, featuring a 'gesture canon', first led by the piano, later led by the violin. The entire piece forms a loose palindrome, but the second half is marked by a reflection of the violin’s dynamic range, as controlled by a metal practice mute. Structurally, Reflected Arcs is supported by its polarity, a balance of opposing forces.

Performances

Premiere: 3/2018 Giancarlo Latta, violin; Robert Fleitz, piano

Recording: 3/2022 Jacob Schafer, violin; Hui Shan Chin