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