for Mies - Carr Chapel
Performance: Open House Chicago - 17 October 2015
Location: Carr Chapel, Chicago
Cello: Jason Raynovich
Architect: Mies van der Rohe, 1952
for Mies
Commissioned by Access Contemporary Music and first presented in Carr Chapel, for Mies is intended as an acknowledgement of Mies’ wider architectural aesthetic and may be performed in any of his buildings. The piece seeks to portray my admiration for Mies’ handling of materials.
I believe that a visit to one of his buildings demands time and space in order to appreciate the intrinsic beauty found within these materials. Drawing parallels with this, and embodying Mies’ ‘less is more’ aesthetic, the exploration of textures on the cello invites the listener to focus on the inherent beauty found within simplistic and raw musical ideas, thereby challenging perceptions on beauty in art.
The piece has a limited number of pitches so that the ear is drawn to the contrasting colours and sonorities. This textural approach is borne from a desire to explore a relationship between the materiality of architecture and the materiality of music.
A filmed presentation in which I discuss the compositional approach to the work can be viewed here.
