Program notes

Followed by Another
Infinite Here
Life is So Strange
This Is the Story She Began
while the whole moves
It Was




while the whole moves
 
while the whole moves, for prepared vibes and cello, was premiered at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in June of 2000 by members of the Chicago-based ensemble, 8th Blackbird..  It is the first in a series of pieces that explore the capabilities of the prepared vibraphone.   The interest began after I was approached a fellow graduate student, who asked if I would consider writing a piece for him exploring new ways to approach the instrument. 
 
The actual musical materials are inspired by a text by e. e. cummings.  His poetry deals with ideas such as that «love fabricates unknowness» with the last lines reading «while the whole moves (and every part stands still).»  I tried to express in music the idea that although one may feel stationary, in whatever capacity, life, events and time continue to move at their own speeds.