Contour-ism VI

Dedicated to Jack body, Contour-ism VI is the seventh piece in the ‘Contour-ism’ series of works for piano and other instrument(s), in which I use quartertone tuning throughout. While this piece has been scored for piano trio, I have conceptualized it as essentially a duo between the piano and the two string instruments. The violin and cello are ‘scordatura’, with each string to be tuned into an unusual, microtonal tuning. The players then are directed to play only using the open strings and their natural harmonics, which produce a limited set of quartertone pitches, which they then pit against the piano’s equal temperament. Always in my music, I like to play with the concept of sound being ‘out of focus’, and the quartertones are an effective technique to realize this idea – instead of strongly, clearly defined pitch, there is a hazy, ambiguous ‘aura’ that surrounds the sound events, which I find captivating.