before
Ketty Nez
About this work:
"before" was written for my friend Katie Wolfe, violin faculty at the University of Iowa, in the summer of 2007. The work is a companion piece to beyond release. Both compositions use algorithmic manipulations of harmonic spectra in a fairly reductionist manner, reducing the system of multiple overtones to only a few and then ‘equal-tempering’ them, allowing pseudo-tonal sonorities to emerge. Using various exponential tempi curves, I also sampled textures, including melodic lines, in a fragmented fashion; I wanted to explore how much distortion I can have before something is completely unrecognizable. I looked for ways to lead from abstract concepts (pitch, duration, attack) and morph the results of random processes into tangible, if ephemeral, musical allusions. Popping the hood on music, as it were, I wanted to rebuild known musical materials from scratch. Seeking to avoid a formal narrative design, I let the results simply speak for themselves.
Year composed: 2007
Duration: 00:15:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Keyboard plus One Instrument
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, 1 Violin