Instrumentation: Piano and Fixed Media
Duration: 9 minutes
Recording Available: Yes
Performed: Yes
Catalog ID: RE1033
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This work for piano and tape was written specifically for Stephan Casurella.
Stephan is one the finest pianist I have ever had the honor of working with. In
this work, I concerned myself with drawing on the performer's strengths, while
still challenging the performer's technique to fall in line with my own
aesthetic. Stephan, who is also a very fine composer, is a major contributer to
this work. His participation in the creation of Stratum insured a truly
collaborative piece of music for which I am very proud.
On a technical level, the piano writing explores multiple layers of the register
and rhythm. Also, I focused on sharp contrasts in dynamics, and on the
exploitation of two pitch set-classes that interest me. Every sound in the tape
part is derived from a recording session which involved Stephan and myself. The
entire tape part, including mixing, was created using these samples and realized
with CSound on a Macintosh computer. The tape part makes use of
more ambient sounds at times when the piano is more active, and makes use of
motion when the piano is more static.
Special thanks to Dr. Robert L. Cooper for his technical and musical assistance.