…maestoso…misterioso… for amplified violin, viola & assorted items
(2011-12)
…maestoso…misterioso… is a sixteen minute work for amplified violin, amplified viola and assorted items. It was composed for and dedicated to Anna Presler. The amplification of both instruments gives the overall timbre an “edge” while allowing for specific portions of music to be used for extensive looping. These simple electronic elements also serve as the medium by which the string players are “pushed away” from their expertise as traditional players towards playing a collection of “humble” instruments [harmonicas, Chinese accordions, gongs], and eventually to the most humble instrument of all – the human voice. The musical evolution of “pushing out,” beyond the awesome sound of a grandiose opening to a fragile, unknown, more mysterious place was inspired by Beethoven’s String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 127, which I happened to be playing when I composed this work.