uns(t)able (re)verb(s)
Ketty Nez
About this work:
"uns(t)able (rè)verb(s)" was written in 2004 for my good friend and colleague at the University of Iowa, Réne Lecuona. In this piece I explore notions of (p)reverberation, fore/backshadowing, the play of echoes that bounce restlessly back and forth between the two pianos. Creating a polyphonic texture, continuous melodic lines toss themselves back and forth, thin out to splotchy patches of erasure, momentarily squeeze themselves into quicker grace-note groups and viscously solidify into chordal sonorities. Wandering between realms of diatonic and chromatic modes, including non-tonal chordal progressions, these adventurous lines also occasionally get stuck in jazzy riffs. An incessant interplay of fleeting stylistic associations allows a “theater of the ear,” to borrow the term loosely from electroacoustic genres and their practice of capturing and manipulating external sound objects—here, of other musics.
Year composed: 2004
Duration: 00:11:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation: 2 Piano