Scott L. Miller

Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, and Percussion

Composer's Note:

My compositional career has largely featured music involving electronic sound in some form or another, with more than a decade passing at one point between compositions of music solely for acoustic instruments. Juxtaposed Lines is a kind of reckoning with my past, which began with a long reflection on what sonic elements characterize the past three decades of my music. The list is not terribly long, but my goal has been to take these features and realize them using only acoustic means of sound production. One characteristic feature of my sound-world is the juxtaposition of synthetic long-tones with acoustically produced sound, an interest I can trace through my work dating to the mid-1990s. Its origins come from an interest in extracting elements from acoustic sound, which has come to operate for me as a kind of measurement device, the imposition of a baseline against which raw, noisy, organic sound can be understood. These long-tones enter and exit over the course of a composition and provide a structural framework for the piece.

This activity is made possible through a grant from the Central Minnesota Arts Board, thanks to funds provided by the McKnight Foundation.