Suite in Vivid Color (2022)

for Violin and Piano

Duration: 15 min

Program Note

I imagined the harmonies in Suite In Vivid Color as thick streaks of oil paint. The movement titles recall Baroque forms – prelude, air, chaconne – and these antique musical expressions are coated in layers of bright, saturated chords. To offset the sweetness of the sonorities, I added textural blemishes in the form of atonal gestures and noisy extended techniques. The result is a piece in opposition with itself, containing music that is simultaneously old and new, gentle and aggressive, comforting and unsettling.

Performances

Premiere: 3/2018 CUNY Graduate Center; Seohee Min, violin; Steven Beck, piano