Commissioned and Premiered by Arthur Haas, Yale University
Premiered at the Staller Center, Stony Brook University, May 2006
Arthur Haas, harpsichord
I chose the title, Buscando…the state of searching, because I was struck by the fact that Spanish has a word to describe searching, not as an action, but as a state of being. I then became interested in how we are influenced, often subliminally, by the sounds around us, in this case, an increasingly Spanish speaking population. In writing a contemporary piece for the harpsichord, I felt the clash between our time the Baroque era when harpsichord was popular. I decided to allow for a variety of musical influences. Some are familiar to Baroque players – the use of modes, an improvisatory element, certain keyboard figures, and others appeared more whimsically, like the left hand that often accompanies “Heart and Soul”, and a traditional lullaby-like tune near the end. I think of Buscando as an adventure story, turning each corner in a “seek and you shall find” discovery.
Score Excerpts
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