Alchemy for piano

(2003) 9.5'

Commissioned by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia of Illinois Wesleyan University
Recorded on Albany Records (Troy 1317)

Program note

Alchemy is a reflection on what I imagined the medieval pursuit of alchemy to have been like with its inevitable emotions of mystery, hope and disillusionment. In another sense, the piece is about the compositional process itself, or, a piece about its own process, a kind of “considered” improvisation. The work was commissioned by the Alpha Lamba Champter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia of Illinois Wesleyan University for Dr. R. Kent Cook in recognition of his years of support and dedication to Alpha Lambda. Dr. Cook premiered the work at Kent State University, Ohio on February 11, 2005 and the following week at Illinois Wesleyan. The composer is grateful to the MacDowell Colony for a residency during the summer of 2003 that made composition of the work possible. The work was recorded by Matthew Bengtson for Albany Records [Troy 1317].