This song cycle is my response to eight surrealist works by René Magritte, whose famous The Treachery of Images highlights the impossibility of art to truly reflect reality. Magritte described his creations as “images which conceal nothing [and] evoke mystery… [they do] not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either; it is unknowable.” I have tried to capture the same spirit of mystery in both the words and the music.
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La traición de las imágenes
In Which They Are Received
for 6 like instruments
Buy viola versionBuy clarinet versionBuy flute version This extended 6-part canon was originally written for 6 clarinets. Each instrumentalist plays the same material, but the impact of these identical statements varies with the surrounding musical context: some entrances produce tension, others merge smoothly with the prevailing atmosphere, and others barely register as the listener’s attention is concentrated elsewhere. Alternate versions are available for 6 violas, 6 flutes or 6 bassoons, and additional arrangements are in progress. The piece can also be performed by a single instrumentalist with electronic delay.
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Consciousness is the Creature of Rhythm
for flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, bassoon, violin, percussion and optional narrators
Consciousness is the Creature of Rhythm was inspired by the short story Moxon’s Master by Ambrose Bierce, in which an inventor is apparently killed by his automaton. The story is full of logical gaps, however, and what really happened has been a matter of debate. This piece deliberately leaves those gaps unfilled, suggesting connections and motivations without explicitly endorsing any theory. The audience must use its imagination to make sense of the action and determine who is responsible for Moxon’s death. Continue reading
Out of Her Place
for SATB chorus (unaccompanied)
Out of Her Place was inspired by the iconic women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony. The first and last stanzas of the text are from speeches she gave at women’s rights conventions; the middle stanza contains lines from her personal letters.
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Sing to the Nebula
for flute, clarinet and guitar
This piece was inspired by NASA’s images of nebulae, interstellar clouds of gas and dust that are often strikingly beautiful. Continue reading
Tuesday Evening Commute
for solo marimba (4½–octave)
This piece begins with the slam of a door as a city-dweller leaves work one Tuesday night. The momentum that propels him along his familiar route is interrupted a few times: by a surprising sight on the street, by a collision with a fellow pedestrian, and by a daydream on the train. As the commuter nears home his mood lightens, his pace quickens, and the last thing we hear is the slam of his own door as he disappears inside.
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Выздоровление (Recovery)
for soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano
This piece is available in two transpositions for high (range C4–G#5) and low (B♭3–F#5) voices. They can be purchased as a set from Gumroad or Ko-fi (US Letter PDFs only). View a score sample of the low voice version.
Watch soprano Abigail Chapman and pianist Fang-Yi Chu performing the high voice version:
Text in Russian by K. N. Batyushkov Continue reading