Raster for quintet

string quartet and piano
for Ne(x)tworks

Premiere at Chelsea Art Museum, May 3, 2008

Additional Performances:
(le) Poisson Rouge, April 1, 2009 (2009 MATA Festival)

Program Note:
Raster for quintet (2008-09) builds on conceptual aims I've been developing in my compositions for Ne(x)tworks and elsewhere. My goal in previous works has been to challenge listeners' aural memory and listening patterns by presenting thematic and rhythmic ideas in abstract contexts, and then recalling them in various guises and evolved iterations. In relation, Raster is much more direct. I've chosen fairly audible rhythmic and pitch constructs to address these earlier concerns. The players are given both precisely written and clearly delimited indeterminate tasks. Unlike much of my music, this material occurs within a pulsed environment, albeit of a constantly shifting character. Instead of removing isometric time to create a quasi-static listening space, Raster creates stasis by continually reshaping time as it occurs. I've also limited the pitch material to tightly controlled arrays ostensibly adding to the static-yet-evolving profile of the work.