Shadow Geometry

Instrumentation: woodwind quintet and two violas

Duration: 21′

Program note:

An initial conception for this piece arose from the observation of sunlight piercing through ebbing blinds of an afternoon window and reflecting upon the door. The interplay of light and shadow refuted most levels of expectation. Within the context of redundancy were the nuanced shadings of stochastic entropy. Once the blinds were disturbed, one could observe a natural envelope of dynamic repetition with subtle variation – swaying shadows allowing less and less light to gain entry. I saw the shape as a convenient metaphor for an exploded musical form. Evoking subtle timbre variation and introducing silence and microtonality as quasi-contrapuntal devices, I sought to acknowledge this otherwise binary and droll analogy as a repository for vast yet stark color fields.