Refractions Score and Parts
“Refractions” is inspired by the complex patterns of light (technically, “caustics”), reflected onto cliffs that I observed while kayaking on a northern Idaho lake in the summer of 2021.
The piece starts slowly and calmly with lush, long notes on the violin and water-like ripples of notes on the piano. Next we hear a dramatic unison between the instruments that gives way to some sparse melodic development and a sense of settling in. Then, beginning at rehearsal “C,” continuing with textures inspired by water and light, the piece uses metric modulation to maintain the speed and value of the notes that the piano is playing regardless of the tuplet groupings. The effect is that although we hear a steady stream of notes that are of equal value, their groupings change in size, and the quarter note pulse changes in tempo. This is meant, in part, to echo the idea of light traveling at different speeds as in refraction. In many ways, the melodic material and rhythmic phrasing that the violin winds throughout could be thought of as the resultant refraction of this process.