Into A Butterfly’s Wings

for piano solo, 2015, duration: 8 minutes.


fragrant orchid—

into a butterfly’s wings

it breathes incense

                            Basho

 

            During the summer of 2014 I was working on a piece for solo voice, singing and speaking.  I generated a harmonic sequence that I thought might give me some direction for the voice.  What I found was material that seemed more useful for an instrument, specifically a piano.  I spun out the individual harmonies by arpeggiating notes and extending each chord generally over at least two measures.  In the process I began to feel the nature of the piece to be reminiscent of on odd mixture of Mendelsohn, Satie, and Bill Evans.  “into a butterfly’s wings” is intended to be gentle and flowing, logical and surprisingly unpredictable, and following the path of a butterfly.

 


Danielle Pfeiffer, piano


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T   © Larry Nelson 2019