LAYER CAKE
for piano three-hands
Work Details
Instrumentation
piano three-hands (2 to 3 players)
Completed
2009
Duration
ca. 3–5 minutes
Premiere Performance
Appassionata Duo
Juilliard School
New York, NY
March 2009
Program Note
Written for the Appassionata Duo, this brief work explores the unusual medium of piano three-hands, with three independent hand parts shared by either two or three performers at a single instrument. Contrasting rhythms interlock, overlap, and shift against one another, creating a texture that is both unexpectedly complex and propulsive.
The piece draws inspiration from the layered rhythmic practices of Central African Pygmy music.
—SC
