awhirl
Commission: Vicki Ray
Premiere: December 10, 2008, REDCAT at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles
Length: 9 minutes
Date: December 2008
Instrumentation: piano with digital signal processingaudio from New World CD
Program Note:
awhirl draws on material I originally composed for my chamber work Dreamscape in which a solo for the pianist is meant to evoke a dream of flight through mercurial gestures and multi-channel spatialization. The whirling, virtuosic music that resulted was something that I wanted to develop further into a solo piece. Ever since first hearing Vicki Ray perform, I have been inspired by her artistry and energy, and I have always wanted to write a solo for her. Somehow this whirling flight of arpeggios and leaps seemed like the ideal match.