shade , illumination
cello
20' , 2025
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Commissioned by Peter Ko with the support of San Diego New Music
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Premiered by Peter Ko at the Athenaeum Art Center, San Diego, CA on March 17, 2025 as part of San Diego New Music's concert series.
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The material in shade , illumination derives from an exploration of the internal dynamics of four nodal points of the cello's lowest strings. These nodes mirror each other in several aspects: sonically, in that those occurring on the same string produce the same 13th partial; physically, in that the two finger positions are the same across both strings and require only a lateral movement. These aspects are counterbalanced by other, inverted ones: for instance, the dyads resulting from their combinations produce intervals of either a narrow octave or a wide major second. In the piece, these four points are scanned by a fluctuant patterning of pressures and locations, unfolding through a gradual process of self-disclosure. What initially appears as monophonic, singular points is revealed to contain, from within, the presence of a polyphony of fragile shades and textures. This, rather than merely the technical framework, is where the spirit of the piece resides: in the variegated sounds that emerge, in their form and extension through time.
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Throughout the compositional process, a particular point of inspiration came from the paintings of Mark Rothko, in particular the Rothko Chapel paintings. In these paintings one finds a highly imbricated structure of subtle, yet dynamic, interrelations: the play of hue, value, and luminosity; of spatial advance and spatial retreat; of facture; of monochrome and figure; nor less of the ever-changing light and other environmental conditions that continuously shift our perceptual awareness in each moment. These qualities, as well as the experiences they elicit, find analogues in the various procedures of the piece and in its gradual unfolding of the material properties and aural thresholds of the instrument and its sound.
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The piece is deeply indebted to Peter Ko, with whom I worked in close collaboration over the course of several months in late 2024 to early 2025 leading up to his premiere of the piece in March 2025 in San Diego.
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Recording forthcoming.
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