Pas de deux à travers le jardin de sculpture (2001)
violin duo
duration: 14’
SMMP No. 113/113a
Premiere
CA Festival of New Music, Flea Theater, New York, NY,
19 June 2004. Ana Milosavljevic and Urara Mogi, violins.
Program Note
This is the concert version of a theatrical piece in which two violinists interact with sculptures created by Stacie Birky Greene. In the theatrical version there were four sculptures: slides of original artwork projected on ten-foot high paper panels, metallic “leaves” which rustle when shook, an object reminiscent of a Japanese lantern in which chimes were placed, and a resonant wooden structure which held a zither. While the sculptures are not present in this version of the piece, their qualities are deeply ingrained into the fabric of the music. Thus, light, wood, leaves, and metal are the main metaphorical underpinnings of this piece.
Aside from materials, my approach towards the music was also guided by what I saw as a playful quality in Stacie’s art. I placed far looser constraints on music than usual, deciding to work with the rough angles and textures inherent in the materials rather than reshaping and refining them. Sometimes the performers literally play games in this music. There is a theatrical element still extant in this version of the piece; the performers move about the performance space at several points, affecting a change in perspective towards each other and the changing characters they inhabit and portray.
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