Commissioned by the MusicNova Orchestra

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Programme Notes
 

Originally composed for the piano, Seven Miniatures for Orchestra is a collection of seven short pieces all connected by the same pitch material. Though based upon the same set of pitch classes and its derivations, all seven miniatures present vastly different sound-worlds, each having a character of its own.  Each miniature also contain various hidden references to the number seven.

The first of the miniatures, the Prelude, is a playful yet structurally-rigorous piece. Though sounding improvisatory and whimsical, its structure is tight and strictly ordered.  The Gymnopédie draws upon the spirit of Satie’s Three Gymnopédies, but is a unique product of a wholly different musical language. The pensive mood of this piece stands in stark contrast to the energy of the Burlesque, which is somewhat Bartokian in character. The piece with the most programmatic title of the set, White Echoes, Cold Shadows, conveys the notions of timelessness and emptiness in a surrealist vein.  Grunge, as its title suggests, contains influences from grunge rock music.  Reverie takes one on a dreamy sound journey, in a lyrical songlike fashion. The last of the set, Heptaphilia, is a tribute to the number seven, and various allusions to this number are playfully peppered throughout the piece.

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Performance History

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Premiered on 24 January 2016 by the MusicaNova Orchestra under the baton of Warren Cohen

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Awards

 

Awarded the Louis Lane Award (2016) by the Eastman School of Music

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Recordings

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