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