Patterns: Book II—Shapes

Each of the nine movements draw inspiration from their respective shape in one or more of these three ways: a musical cryptogram (i.e., using letters to represent musical pitches), extra-musical ideas associated with some aspect of the shape, or numerical qualities of the shape itself.

These pieces are a continuation of Patterns: Book I, a three-movement work that explores broader associations with pattern and color. Returning to a fundamental conception of geometry, the shapes in Patterns: Book II include a collection of basic two-dimensional shapes, and more complex polyhedrons.

All of the movements, in one way or another, use the criteria mentioned above to develop some kind of pattern. Whether a cycle of rhythms, an ostinato, scalar material, or a sequence of intervals, each movement establishes a distinct character, similar to a prelude, etude, or character piece.


Score Sample
purchase

DATE

2023

DURATION

25 minutes

INSTRUMENTATION

Piano

MOVEMENTS

I. Circle
II. Triangle
III. Square
IV. Rhombus
V. Hexagon
VI. Polyomino
VII. Tetrahemihexahedron
VIII. Octahedron
IX. Dodecahedron


COMMISSION

Matthew Bengtson

PREMIERE

TBD