4 minutes
2012

Written for David Upham and the University of New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, this piece returns to a fascination with musical miniatures going all the way back to the Three Short Movements for Orchestra from 1997. This interest sits in notable contrast with the generally very long durations of most of my works. It is perhaps not surprising that this effort should follow just after the composition of a 2-hour-40-minute piece. After that, thinking in this way—and having an entire orchestra at my disposal—was utterly refreshing. The strings are handled divisi throughout. Entirely straightforward (no deep, hidden messages here), the movements could easily have the following titles/descriptions:

I. Ascending
II. Dots
III. Three Blocks
IV. Dyad
V. Right Triangle
VI. Dots, Again
VII. One Note
VIII. Nine Verticals