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32 Binary Appetizers

for piano solo (2006-2009)

Durations: 30 seconds to 2:00 minutes

Premieres: 2005, 2006, and 2008

Amherst College

Dylan Schneider, piano

Program Notes:

Occasionally, I find myself at a concert thinking to myself that the piece being performed is almost unbearably long. The twenty-first-century citizen is busy. And between buzzing smartphones and the latest advancements in online dating, competition for the fidgety listener’s attention is stiff.

The thirty-two binary hors d’oeuvres are my reaction to musical grandstanding. Not intended for performance as a complete set, but rather in smaller courses of one or two at a time, these musical finger foods are designed to whet the listener’s palate. They are experiments in brevity—I try in them not to waste notes or people’s time.