Signatures of the
Sun
solo piano with photographic projections
(2009)
GENERAL
INFORMATION
PDF of computer presentation
slides
Signatures of the
Sun is a
three-way collaboration among pianist Jen Bratz,
photographer Joe Decker, and myself. During Fall 2008, Dr.
Bratz and I hatched the idea of creating a collaborative
composition based in an extramusical art form.
I suggested the work of my friend Joe Decker, an
award-winning nature photographer, as a departure point.
Jen and I examined his work that is available on his
website (rockslidephoto.com), and agreed upon Joe’s
Signatures of the Sun series:
From rockslidephoto.com
Artist's Statement for Signatures of the Sun
“The white
"signatures" in these photographs are real; they are not
manipulations or paintings. They are patterns sketched by
sunlight skipping along the surface of turbulent streams.
“These photographs explore the relation of the Sun and her
light to the Earth, the boundary between the ethereal and
the firmament. At last, the Sun is allowed to sign her
Work.
Jen and I
selected four photographs to work from, with each serving
as the inspiration for an individual movement. We solicited
Joe’s input as to his ideas on the musical potential of
each image, and those comments are presented within the
score. Ideally, during performance, the photographs are
projected onto a screen that is on or above the stage. Here
are brief descriptions of each movement:
I. “Lightfall”
In this movement, a literal adaptation of the image was
used: a grid of 88 rows and 44 columns was mapped over the
image, and the white “signatures” were assigned pitches on
the white keys of the piano. Rhythmic choices were made
intuitively, and a system of introducing “black keys” in
the second half of the work provides harmonic motion.
II. “Still”
In contemplating the title “Still”, I sought to identify
the musical interval that most represented “stillness”.
Though it seems a simply obvious response that the perfect
octave (or unison) is the most “still” interval, the more
useful solution that presented itself to me was the perfect
twelfth.
III. “Glowing Runes”
Joe’s suggestion: “Almost minimalist, the word "runes" in
the title alludes to a bit of Nordic, ancient, stark,
powerful, heroic-era....”. Subsequently, a 12th-century
Viking gymel (two-part polyphonic song, which happens to be
in Lydian mode, and thus links with the subtle whole-tone
implications of “Still”) is used as a cantus firmus.
IV. “Waves”
Before turning to photography, Joe was a mathematician. As
such, I thought it appropriate to take that kind of
approach to this movement, specifically differing
manifestations of waves in the first (longitudinal) and
second (transverse) dimensions. The pitch basis for the
work is a harmonic series based on C (which connects to the
“white key” disposition of “Lightfall”) that is overlaid
with a subtle nod to common minimalist harmonic
progressions.
PERFORMANCE
HISTORY
2009: Graduate Recital, Dr. Jen Bratz, the University of
Colorado, Boulder, CO
2009: Joint Faculty Recital with Dr. Jen Bratz, Rocky
Mountain College, Billings, MT