The Distant series of works has occupied my creative imagination for many years.  It seems I have just gotten started with so many Distant projects yet to complete.  These works originated as piano solo pieces, but upon revisiting some of the completed ones, it has become obvious to me that many are in fact orchestral sketches.  When playing these pieces for myself, sonic colors and landscapes seem to beg to be let free from the instrumental confines of the piano.  This first occurred to me when writing Aujourd’hui, which although not a Distant work, lives in the same sonic milieu as my Distant pieces.
No. 4 from Pieces from a Distant Land Series I originated from a sketch I jotted down in 2012.  However, I didn’t compose the piece until early 2020.  I subtitled the piece “Sarabande Chorale”.  The sarabande rhythm continues throughout for the most part, and the harmonic progressions and patterns presented via the sarabande rhythm evoke a chorale-like sentiment. It starts with a dark, brooding yet majestic character.  Later in the middle section I introduce a freely composed chorale melody in the high register without the sarabande rhythm.
In June of 2022 I decided to orchestrate this piece because of all the orchestral nuances that seemed to jump out at me.  Concurrently from the beginning of 2022, my beloved wife of nearly 50 years, Irene, was suffering increasing disability, pain and suffering from her years-long battle with numerous diseases and organ failures.  Perhaps it was the dark, low register introduction balanced with a kind of majestic dignity of will to live that called me to orchestrate this piece?  Who can say? 
Thus it was that I wrote Chanson lointaine quatre (Distant Song 4), based on No. 4 from Series I Distant Land, during Irene’s last months of many hospital visits, numerous operations, great sadness, and unbearable physical and emotional pain.  However, this is not just an “orchestration” of the original piano piece, but a recomposition of the same with additional variations and materials.
In this work one may hear: sudden shifts of emotion; longing; hope; determination of will; anguish and sadness welling up; a dialogue of spirits in communion with each other and our Heavenly Father; perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds and pain; and yet even tender moments of loving and caring.
Chanson lointaine quatre wasn’t written specifically “for” Irene but represents a reflection of our lives together at the moment our Heavenly Father was calling her to a better place.  Indeed, Chanson lointaine quatre is but a small sampling of works written during a lifetime of loving and sharing with my better half, written with her and inspired by her always in my heart.

Chanson Lointaine Quatre

MISE-EN is a collection of works that share a common sound ideal and conceptual instrumentation. Work on this collection began in 2018 while collaborating with the Ensemble MISE-EN in South Korea under the auspices of the Oil Tank Culture Park Global Network in Seoul.

The resulting work, MISE-EN Series I, is an electroacoustic work scored for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, Percussion, Ableton Live, and Acousmatic Sound. This work was meant to reflect the aesthetic agenda of Ensemble MISE-EN, whose name roughly translates from Korean to English as meaning “decorative beauty.”

To achieve this goal, I decided to write a work for chamber ensemble which would reflect a larger sonic landscape than what might be considered traditional chamber writing. I thus included live and prerecorded electronics in the scoring and composed with two divergent but complementary musical components: “sound tapestry” (“beautiful”), and ornamentation (“decorative”).

Series I is the first of a series of works based on this concept of “decorative beauty”. To simplify logistics, the Ableton Live part, which would otherwise be performed by a seventh ensemble player, can be mixed with the Acousmatic Sound recording. The World Premiere of MISE-EN, Series I in November 2018, was performed by the Ensemble MISE-EN with this alternative version.

It only occurred to me after completing this first work that I could expand and extend MISE-EN as a series of works. To implement this while retaining the underlying sound ideal of “decorative beauty” for all works of the series, I decided to pair electroacoustic devices with a different legacy or standard acoustic ensemble for each follow-on work. Thus, Series I is scored for a slightly modified “Pierrot” ensemble. Series II, this work, is scored for Amplified String Quartet and Acousmatic Sound. In 2021, the first Episode of Series II was selected by the Sirius Quartet for recording by PARMA to be released on the Navona Records label, CD and streaming audio. The opening Episode presents a tightly woven contrapuntal texture that is eventually painted against a contrasting broad and richly scored melodic line. The juxtaposition of this contrasting content awaits further exploration, as this first Episode ends with a question marked by the remnants of an ascending and fading contrapuntal cascade. The ornamentation of the contrapuntal texture frames the beauty expressed in the soaring cantabile, thus delineating a formal framework that harkens back to a bygone era, an era that nevertheless remains alive and essential in my creative work.

Playing on the Edge 3

Mise-En Series II, Episode 1

In August of 2022, Irene, my wife and soulmate of so many wonderful years, passed away. The following years were the most difficult years of my life as I was devastated and overwhelmed by grief. Several years prior to Irene’s passing, I had started on a large orchestral work reflecting on our life together with our son, Peren, during his childhood years. This work is still in progress, but stylistically it has had a great impact on the composition of my Pieces of Love and Remembrance as it foreshadows much of what I expressed in Seeking Serenity, Part I. I started to write down ideas here and there during the more lucid moments of my grieving. Then in early 2024, I received an invitation from PARMA Recordings to write a short 5-minute piece for piano and orchestra. I immediately jumped at the opportunity, and Seeking Serenity, Part I is the work I composed for this occasion.

Although I do not generally, and did not with Seeking Serenity, attempt to tell a story or narrative of some kind, listeners of my music often reflect on how my music evokes in them certain feelings, images, or extra musical references. This was particularly true of Irene, and I so miss how she would relate to me about her feelings and impressions while listening to my music. Indeed, I am overjoyed to learn that listeners can get caught up in the emotions of my music as they follow their own unique journey guided by what they hear.

On a very personal level, I can identify with the piano solo which strives to find some point of repose or comfort, seeking this not in despair but in the hope of finding and rekindling love, belonging and the strength to continue on. The opening arpeggiated passages underscore the direction of this sentiment. The orchestra for its part is like, dare I say, Irene who is gently beckoning me on to find that place of repose and acceptance, full of color, bright sounds, and signposts pointing the way. By the end of Part I, the solo finds itself in a delicately balanced and restructured statement of motivic material alluded to previously, and in a high, bell-like register of the piano, echoed and enfolded finally by an orchestral texture not unlike wind chimes reverberating into infinity.

Journey to Serenity

Pieces of Love and Remembrance: Seeking Serenity, Part I

Composer of contemporary classical concert art music.  Peter's is a unique musical voice with singing dynamism and expressive color.  His works include pieces for orchestra, ensembles, voice, piano, and electronic/digital media.  Peter’s music embodies a hybrid stylistic approach and incorporates influences as diverse as Elliot Carter and Earle Brown, Rachmaninoff and Schoenberg, or Xenakis and Bach.  Visit his website to learn more about his music and background.

Chanson Lointaine Quatre

Peter Dickson Lopez

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