Performed by Erin Lesser on the New Music at Lawrence concert series on October 30, 2020.

Alone, Dancing

Performed by Michael Mizrahi. (five movements, Mvt 2: 4:26, Mvt 3: 6:01, Mvt. 4: 9:05, Mvt. 5: 9:55) 

The piano is incredibly adept at changing moods suddenly and drastically; in one moment, it can be domineering and terrifying, and at the next, it can be delicate, docile, and nostalgic. The raga-based pitch language in this piece further enhances this through chromatic fluctuations that are akin to major and minor mode shifts. The piece’s five-movement structure is reminiscent of Bartok’s arch form, where the central movement is a centerpiece and the outer movements share similarities. Movements I and V are highly improvisatory in character and are loosely influenced by Bartok’s “Improvisations on a Hungarian Theme,” while Movement III has a more rigid rhythmic pace, at first light and playful but arriving at a thundering chordal ostinato. Movements II and IV function as interludes, exploring plucking and muting sounds as alternate sound-making techniques on the piano. This work was commissioned by my friend and colleague Michael Mizrahi.

Mercurial Reveries, for solo piano

Performed by Alarm Will Sound

The title, composed of two Sanskrit words, “svara” meaning musical note and “lila” loosely meaning play, refers to methods of manipulation of an 8-note pitch collection, which is derived from a conflation of two closely related Indian modes (ragas). More than just notes in a scale, a raga traditionally evokes strong emotions and moods. The exceedingly lovely and expressive ragas used to form my pitch collection are generally associated with sadness and longing. Thus, the piece begins with an expansive, slow progression of dissonant harmonic sonorities that explore various intervallic relationships within the pitch collection. Simultaneously, the top notes of the progression form the basis of a recurring modal theme that guides the entire structure of the piece. As the slow and dramatic growth unfolds, the modal nature of the pitch collection is gradually revealed through increasingly active melodic and rhythmic gestures. The piece remains harmonically driven to the very end when the previously unresolved main theme returns in full force only to have its final resolution undermined by achingly conflicting sonorities whose colliding dissonances linger in the air to the last moment, denying the much anticipated release.

Svara-lila, for chamber orchestra

Performed by Sara Fraker.

Lesson 1: Gratitude… for gifts from the earth; reciprocity… through attention and care for the gift-givers. 
Lesson 2: Listening, paying attention… to our fellow Earth dwellers, the birds, insects, animals, trees, wind, water… a democracy of species. 
Lesson 3: Animacy… of the wind, asserted by wind chimes… “to be the wind” 

I thank Robin Wall Kimmerer for her beautiful and inspiring book Braiding Sweetgrass. I thank Sara Fraker for her collaborative spirit, wonderful imagination, and immense hard work to bring this project to fruition. This work weaves us together as three strands of a braid.

Braiding: Lessons from Braiding Sweetgrass

Dyadic Affinities, for solo tuba and electronics

Infinite Ephemera, for solo guitar

Performed by Lawrence University saxophone studio.

Layaanjali, for saxophone ensemble

Performed by Lisa Bost-Sandberg and Eva Polgar
This piece was written for an expanded flute with the Kingma(R) system and Glissando Headjoint(R). A version for standard flute is also available.

Utthishta, for flute and piano

Kalpitha, for string quartet

Performed by Leo Saguiguit and Megan Arns.

Kalpitha, for string quartet

ashasrinivasan

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