Untitled III

PROGRAM NOTES

Can we erase the past? Can we atone for our mistakes? Can we see ourselves as others see us? How do we reconcile who we were with who we are, and what we’ve learned? How do we move forward, confronted with the past in our present? Shadow of My Former Self is a collection of works exploring these questions; under the self-secluding name Untitled.

In Untitled III, I began with digital recordings of pianist Jacob Mason and double bassist Robert Black speaking in between takes of a recording session they made several years ago of another one of my works. I used various types of spectral manipulation techniques to process and transform these sounds past recognizability, creating a full length digital media work. I then transcribed that new work to create this concerto for piano and chamber orchestra. This transformation of the original spoken words and vocal timbres, the resultant electronic composition, and the subsequent transformation/composition into a work for acoustic musicians are attempts to create something new and beautiful, yet twice removed from the meaning of the original, a musical “shadow” of the source material.

Untitled III was written for Jacob Mason and ensemble ibis in 2023.

Premiere Performance:
Jacob Mason, piano
ensemble ibis
Shawn Crouch, conducting
October 7, 2023, 7:30 pm
Gusman Concert Hall
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL