Michael Rothkopf

Guitar and Live Electronics

Composer's Note:

Quieto was progressively composed in series of creative spurts. I began work on the composition in the summer of 1987, took it up again over several years and completed the work in 2012. The analog electronic sounds were created at the Electronic Music Center of Columbia University as well as computer generated layers using MIDI and Max generated sounds. 

A single movement sonatina, the work takes on a stream-of- conscious development of the thematic ideas stated by the solo guitar in its exposition. These ideas are fragmented, expanded and re-combined in a counterpoint between the guitar and the interactive Max application. The work ends with a return to solo guitar in a more relaxed, expansive and transformed recapitulation. The interplay between the guitar and computer requires careful, subtly nuanced balancing acts of rhythmic freedom and precision and the
ability to play accurately with virtuosity and abandon.

Publisher's Note:

New 2025 edition. Purchase includes download to electronic media files - an Apple operating system (macOS) is required to run the electronics on this piece.