Holding Patterns

Holding Patterns was written for David Kaplan, who suggested a dialogue with the work of Chris Cerrone as a starting point. Taking the opening four notes from the second movement of Chris’ piano concerto, the initial gesture expands, glides, and revolves, sometimes getting blown off course before returning to its point of origin. New patterns emerge, as do melodies embedded within their shifting accents. The second movement’s independent layers are in a state of perpetual drift, until they finally snap together with magnetized strings. The flowing patterns of the final section are rounded off and occasionally made unseen by the pedal, expanding and contracting with flurries of activity.