Paradigm Shift (2016)

Instrumentation: Viola and Piano

Duration: 5:30

Commissioning Artist: Lauren Perala

Performances:

Lauren Perala and Mi-Young Kim
Visions for Viola
Berkman Recital Hall, University of Hartford
May, 2016

Program Notes:

A paradigm is “a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns.” Throughout this piece musical concepts and patterns are presented in a specific way only to have their function shift throughout the piece (melodic fragments collapsing to become harmonies for example). There are two shifts, which happen gradually throughout the piece. The first takes the established material and reinterprets it in new ways; the second reverts back to their original use however colored by their secondary functions. “Paradigm Shift” also refers to a key musical idea from the second section, which comes for Alfred Schnittke’s Piano Trio. In my piece I have taken Schnittke’s musical material and integrated it into my own sound world, thus transforming it to meet my needs.