other (2018)
Viola
Duration: 8’
Premiered by Sebastian Stefanovic March 15, 2019.
Performed by Sebastian Stefanovic October 17, 2019.
Winner of 2020 American Viola Society Maurice Gardner Competition
program note
Other borrows and transforms fragments of a simple melody written by a friend of mine. While never completely stated during the piece, the melody acts as a structural backbone around which the piece takes shape. At the outset of the piece, shimmering harmonics, trills, open strings, and extended timbral techniques decorate the melody, resulting in a sort of sonic halo that surrounds the simple C-major line. Throughout the course of the piece, the melody and its fragments reappear in more developed forms (such as within 3-note and 4-note chords) and less developed forms (such as a single-note, unharmonized line), finally achieving a sense of rest as the piece comes to a close.