Program Note

Very rarely do I come up with a title before I even write a note. Titles or concepts are usually something I begin thinking about after I start solidifying the musical material. However, "Dancing About Architecture" was a concept I had been thinking about a few months before I began writing and when I started working on this piece for Hub New Music, I knew exactly what kind of piece this was going to be. The name "Dancing About Architecture" comes from an alleged quote by Frank Zappa where he says "Writing about music is like dancing about achitecture." It's a quote I always found funny since using an artform to describe another artform is a little silly but how else are we to talk about music? Both are means of expression but one is much less ambiguous than the other. The other half of the statement proves interesting as well. One might argue that since dance is always taking place within a location, therefore it is inherently commenting on the space itself, therefore the dancing is always about, to some degree, architecture. Architecture also holds a special place in my heart as when I was a kid, before I was a musician, I wanted to be an architect. I used to walk down the street and name all the styles of the houses for fun.

I became more curious in this quote when I began thinking about how interlinked styles are across artforms. Just like music and architecture share styles like baroque, classical, and renaissance, dance and architecture share some styles as well. For example the arabesque is a style of flowing and floral lines in architecture while also a ballet technique. For this work, rather than painfully try to include and reference many styles of dance and architecture, I wanted the work to exist by itself without being hindered by specific styles. I wanted this piece to be free and flowing, a dance of its own volition.

There are three broad zones of this piece, each with their own material and mood:

Light and Airy is predominantly Neoclassical. It is crisp and orderly with a flair of off-setting syncopation. It is joyful and celebrates the ornate structures inherent to classical music and classical architecture. 

Warm and Resonant is directly commentating on large and spacial rooms, as in cathedrals or other huge buildings. This zone incorporates chant-like melodies that interlock in small canons immitating echos.

Stately and Rhythmic features prominently a fugue and baroque musical language with an emphasis on disrupting typical figures and functions.

Following the conclusion of the third zone is a coda, which brings the work into a new direction, commenting on all the material at once in a frenzy.

Performances

May 3, 2026 John A. Paulson Center, New York University, Manhattan, NY. Hub New Music.