Emerson String Quartet gives US Premiere of Lawrence Dillon's String Quartet No. 5: Through the Night

AMADEUS EX MACHINA for chamber orchestra (2001)

Amadeus ex machina is a whimsical re-imagining of Mozart's 40th symphony from the perspective of a sophisticated - but somewhat disoriented - machine. Themes are mixed and matched in odd combinations, key centers are skewed in unexpected directions, and the entire composition is condensed into a ten-minute soundbite.

The resulting work can be experienced in a number of ways - as a study of contemporary society's relationship with its cultural heritage, as a commentary on the interaction of art and technology, or simply as an affectionate spoof of one of the greatest compositions in the Classical canon. The title comes from the deus ex machina - literally, "god from a machine" - a theatrical device in ancient Greece whereby a god was lowered to the stage in a crane to resolve seemingly hopeless plot complications.

In our own time, though we continually face fresh challenges to our sense of hope, the music of Mozart and the work of passionate advocates for the arts can present us with unexpected resolutions - or at least sources of rejuvenation that make our crises a little easier to bear. Amadeus ex machina was commissioned by the Carolina Chamber Symphony to commemorate its tenth anniversary under founding Music Director Robert Franz.

It was premiered at Wake Forest University on May 3, 2002. The work was a awarded a special commendation by the 2003 Masterprize panel in London, and was chosen as contemporary competition piece for the 2002 Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition in Kharkov, Ukraine. It received its Russian premiere on March 20th, 2005 by the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic.

APPENDAGE (1993)

A song cycle in six consecutive sections. For more information, visit http://www.lawrencedillon.com/appendage.php

BACCHUS CHACONNE (1990) for two violins

BIG BROTHERS (2004)

CHICANE

CONCERTO FOR FLUTE AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

DEVOTION (1996) for flute, violin, viola, cello

In a world devoted to overstatement, Devotion is a single-movement work that hews closely to a very simple theme in an unassuming manner. Composed in Medieval clausula form (a type of variation in which the melody is intertwined with fragments of itself), the piece uses the flute to state its theme with three increasingly fervent variations.

The three string instruments, playing the intertwining fragments, are muted and bowing over the fingerboards throughout, hovering around the flute melody in a subdued testament to fidelity. The blend of compositional techniques in this piece, drawn from six centuries of musical evolution, conveys a sense of stylistic timelessness, resulting in a work that seemingly originates outside the course of music history.

DREAMING SEASON, THE

The Dreaming Season is an arrangement and revision of an aria from the opera Buffa. For more information, visit http://www.lawrencedillon.com/dreaming.php

EMBARKATION

for flute, horn and piano

EXIT

FACADE for violin and piano (1983)

ORPHEUS IN THE AFTERWORLD

Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra

REVERIE SCHERZO

SIX SCENES AND A FANTASY

SONATA - MOTION

SONNET: STOREBOUGHT ROSES

SPRING PASSING for violin and marimba (1998)

STRING QUARTET NO. 1 - JESTS AND TENDERNESS (1998)

First piece in the Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle

STRING QUARTET NO. 3: AIR (2005)

Third in the Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle. For more information, visit http://www.lawrencedillon.com/air.php

SYMPHONY NO. 1 (1998)

TWO TAPESTRIES for string sextet

WHAT HAPPENED