Solo piano, July 2007. Recorded by William Fried. 0:57
Premiere
18 September 2007 by the New York Miniaturist Ensemble at the Brooklyn Center for New Music.
Program Note
I have always found grey areas fascinating, such as those found between high and popular culture, or in music that cannot be classified into a genre or style.
88, written in July of 2007, is the first realization of my attempts to reconcile freedom for personal expression in music with the limits of parametric composition. In 88 each key of the piano is struck one and only once. As the piece progressed my choices with regard to pitch became more and more limited. This forced my to put my personality into the rhythm, dynamics, and expressive markings. Writing in this way, searching for freedom within limits, forces one into new avenues of creativity, and I plan on repeating the process, with different parameters, for future pieces.