Program Notes

    This piece was originally intended to be double the size of what appears in the score. I wanted big,

bombastic sections of raw sound and energy, double the amount of pure notes and activity, and double the amount of time spent in this world. What came out, however, was a piece that folded under its own possibilities – every possible avenue for more led to a dead end. I spent months trying to figure out how to do things the way I wanted, only to find when I finally gave up control the piece suddenly flowed through. The result is not a piece of sweeping scope and power, but rather a piece that fizzles into the ground, absorbed into the ether.

    The funny thing is that this fizzling out is an enticing preparation for the main event for which this work was written, a complete performance of the four Chopin Ballades. Heated rhythmic energy disintegrates into nothing, out of which the melody of the first Ballade emerges. The blues scale and quintal harmonies dominate the sound world, not at all like Chopin, but the resultant cohesiveness speaks a similar language. The Ballades represent a synthesis of Chopin’s intricately woven long-form narratives, and perhaps my work is the antithesis, of letting go of control. Though not what I anticipated, the result is a poignancy that may not have been achieved otherwise.

    Disintegration Blues was written for Sean Skinner and dedicated to Jim Hutchison and Nanci Ritter, my generous patrons and supporters.

February 9 2025

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