Iteration Etudes (2020)

for Oboe

Duration: 5 min

Program Note

I wrote Iteration Etudes in response to Sol Lewitt's “Wall Drawing #1115.” In his “Wall Drawings,” Lewitt produces a set of instructions for the organization presenting his work. The staff onsite then follows those instructions to realize the full-size image. I found this process familiar and intriguing. It is not unlike the work of a composer; a composer’s score is a set of instructions to create a piece of music, and performers follow those instructions to realize the piece in sound.
In “Wall Drawing #1115,” Lewitt utilized a few simple shapes, which he repeated in countless iterations to create a larger structure. In my etudes, I wanted to do the same – the foundation for each movement is a single gestural idea, which I spin out in a series of rotations and transpositions.

Performances/Recordings

Premiere: 5/2020 Virginia McDowell, oboe