KYTHERA VARIATIONS

Composer's note:  Kythera Variations is a piece in six connected sections for violin and piano completed in 2012. Its title derives not from the island of Kythera off the coast of Greece, but from the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient analog computer designed to calculate astronomical positions recovered from the Antikythera wreck off the nearby island of Antikythera. Its construction has been dated to the early 1st century BC, yet technological artifacts approaching its complexity did not appear again until the 14th century A.D., when mechanical astronomical clocks began to be built in Western Europe. The rather motoric and insistent nature of much of the music reflects the character of mechanical devices, and the variations tend to be varied musical concepts rather than thematically derived textures. The concept of the piece dates back to a composer residency at Copland House where several sketches were written; these was set aside until the final realization and revisions of summer 2012.