Year composed: 2008
Duration: 15′
Instrumentation: two pianos
Movements:
I. Nuts and Bolts
II. Machinations
III. Frame Switch
IV. A note to follow sol
V. Coming Back
For Julie Steinberg and Cindy Cox. Premiered by Julie Steinberg and Cindy Cox at Hertz Hall, Berkeley in 2008.
Notes:
Playing a round was originally written for the duo keynote+, which consisted of amplified harpsichord and prepared piano. This version for two pianos (unprepared) is a radical changing of sound color, but remains full of jokes, as you can see from the title. There are lots of musical canons, particularly in movements one, two, and three. There are melodic symmetries echoed back-and-forth between the two instruments, especially in movement one. The third movement is a dialogue between a sort of embellished chorale in piano one, and a strange artificial scale in piano two. The fourth movement plays on the idea of ringing bells and a sober sort of four and five-part counterpoint. The last movement swings on a kind of riff initiated by piano two and punctuated by the piano one, and finally, in the coda, the music of the first movement returns, “Coming back” and “Playing a round”.