9 minutes
2005

This work for piano four-hands comes directly out of my engagement with the music of Morton Feldman. In this case, specifically, with his works for multiple pianos (or multiple pianists) dating from the late 1950s, In these works, multiple pianists play from the same score in a rhythmically independent fashion. This rhythmic independence opened up an entirely new way of thinking about musical composition. In and amongst these piano pieces is one for piano four-hands. In this case, with both pianists sitting at the same piano, there are two different parts (still performed rhythmically independently). This was an important development that paved the way for the Durations pieces and other Feldman works where multiple instruments play distinct parts in a “free” rhythmic environment.

When I first discovered the piece for piano four-hands, and the fact that it had separate parts for the two pianists, I thought “Of course, because otherwise they’d be right on top of each other.” But then I realized that would be a very interesting situation. The result is this piece. The two pianists begin together, literally depressing the same keys at the same time. Slowly, they separate. Interesting and unique sonorities result when one pianist is holding down notes within a harmony that the other then plays. Multiple performances of this piece tend to begin and end in fairly similar ways, but the middle portion can vary significantly.