Recording coming soon!
Instrumentation
solo piano
Duration
4 minutes
Program Note
The writing of Interior Lullaby was, admittedly, a very experimental process—far more so than my usual working method. My aim in this piece was to stretch a small amount of material as far as it could possibly go, and so nearly this entire work is based on a simple seven-note melodic figure, which is itself taken from another piece of mine, a work for mixed chamber ensemble entitled gilding cages.
I felt that this melody, as it originally stood, had untapped potential (in gilding cages it merely occurs as a transitional device), and so Interior Lullaby serves to magnify this material, and to observe it as if from inside a hall of mirrors. Starting from the very top of the piano’s range, the melody is heard in both hands in quasi- canonic imitation as it gradually travels down the length of the instrument. As the piece progresses, different rhythmicizations of the theme bring out different implied harmonies between the hands; capturing these is one of the most important facets of performing this piece.
Interior Lullaby was also composed in the days leading up to and following the 2024 American presidential election. While I often find pieces that are directly “about” politics to be gauche, art of course cannot exist in a vacuum. I found that slipping inside the delicate sound world of this piece provided a moment of solace—I hope it does the same for both performer and listener alike, should they desire that.
Interior Lullaby lasts approximately four minutes in performance.
Selected Performances
Alex Barsom, piano
April 18, 2025 (World Premiere)
The New School – Mannes School of Music (New York, NY)
Tristan Wilson 