UC Berkeley

In 2013 I wrote a piece that was premiered by the Janacek Philharmonia under the baton of Petr Kotik entitled exordium. A recording of the piece was also included in the OD 2013 CD. As the title of that piece indicates it was always meant as an introduction or an abbreviated synopsis of sorts. narratio is a continuation of exordium or could be thought of as a fulfillment of the promise it puts forth. Ideas presented in exordium have been stretched, magnified, dilated, deconstructed, and ultimately abandoned.

The piece reflects much of the compositional techniques and philosophies that I’ve researched over the years as a culmination of my doctoral studies at UC Berkeley: rhythmic and tempo permutations and relationships based on specified integer sets and their sums, harmonic relations using interpolated wave forms to create evenly distributed scales and pitch sets over varying frequency ranges, and perhaps most importantly, a focus on specified open forms that allow the performer a freedom from fixed time and pulsation - allowing each performer to express their own unique proclivities, propensities, strengths, and limitations while still maintaining the cohesion of the orchestra under the baton of the conductor.

The duration is approximately 15 minutes long. The piece was premiered on September 2nd at Ostrava Days 2017 in Ostrava, Czech Republic by Ostrava New Orchestra under the baton of Carl Christian Bettendorf.