PROGRAM NOTES

I wrote this piece because I wanted to challenge myself by making use of what some of my past composition teachers told me to avoid, and recontextualizing it into a lighthearted and humorous setting. The piece reflects upon my journey as a composer, alluding to my own strengths and weaknesses as a student of the past, present, and future.

 

The work is in three movements. The first depicts a student composer, such as myself, adding extended techniques as they are discovered, and as a result, the movement has a sense of awkwardness, suggesting that the student learned the technique and did not know how to use it in context. Further, there are overly-complicated sections that are difficult to play. The second movement presents some 20th-Century music clichés, used in both subtle and obvious ways. The third movement is about performance art.