Études for solo cimbalom (2012, 2015)
Six movements
I. Prologo
II. La Falena (moth)
III. La Danza Pesante
IV. Il Rumore (noise)
V. La Canzone Tranquilla
VI. Epilogo
Recording:
Recorded on December 9, 2015, Taplin Auditorium, Princeton, NJ
performer: Nick Tolle
video artist: Evan Chapman
recording engineer: Andres Villalta
Program note:
Études for Cimbalom was originally written in Rome in 2012 (hence the Italian subtitles and the overarching abstruse sentimentality). I extensively reworked it three years later. The first movement, “prologo,” comprises snippets of all of the following movements. The second movement, initially called “la farfalla" (butterfly), took a dark turn to eventually become “la falena" (moth). The third, “la danza pesante" (heavy dance), is a musical illusion of a heavy folk dance. The fourth, “il rumore" (noise), is built with noisy harmonics and clusters, abstracting the material from “la danza pesante.” The fifth, “la canzone tranquilla" (calm song), is an ever-expanding meditative tune. The sixth, “epilogo," starts again from the beginning, colored by the memories of the five preceding movements.