Fragmentos De La Noche (night fragments)

Fragmentos de la Noche (Night Fragments) was written during January and February 2001 for cellist Maya Beiser. The work was premiered on May 6, 2001 by Maya Beiser as part of a NY concert sponsored by the Joyce Dutka Foundation. The title, Night Fragments, is a reference to the fact that much of the material for the work was created late in the evenings when at least in my case, the sense of hearing is quite acute. After the work was completed I also noticed that I unintentionally included several fragments that elude to Schoenberg's, Nacht from Pierrot Lunaire. These unintentional references combined with the fact that the work was mostly written in the evenings led me to the title. As with much of my music the counterpoint between timbre, register, density, and pacing as well as the slow evolution of material are important aesthetic concerns. This slowly evolving material often creates the perception of a stasis or a freezing of time in the listener; an experience similar to that often elicited by the pacing in some Non-Western musics. Lastly, in addition to these concerns, the exploration of where sound ends and silence begins and the reverse, is of great interest and evident in this piece.