Suite (2019)

for Piano

Duration: 12 min

Program Note

My Suite draws inspiration from Baroque movement genres: it begins with a prelude, follows with dance movements at varying degrees of abstraction, and concludes with an extensive continuous-variation form. But underneath this stiff surface structure, another story unfolds. A motive (consecutive perfect fourths moving chromatically) works its way into each of the five movements. Sometimes this motive is the cell that generates the sound world of a movement, sometimes it intrudes on a movement already in progress. These varying approaches allow the motive to shift its role between an agent of unity and an agent of chaos.

Performances/Recordings

Premiere: 2/2020 Michael Clark, piano

Recording: 12/2020 Michael Clark, piano