prussian blue

prussian blue
I. opening (0:46)
II. ink (9:41)
III. luther (15:31)
IV. brian (24:41)
V. intermission (32:47)
[intermission] (35:28)
VI. whiteboard (52:53)
VII. piano (59:33)
VIII. fractal (1:08:32)
IX. closing (1:14:10)

Performers:
Joni Clare, voice
Warren Enstrom, bassoon
Nick Weckman, bass trombone
Aidan Menuge, piano

prussian blue (2015) is a pigment. It is an antidote to heavy metal poisoning. It is the chemical responsible for the characteristic blue of blueprints. And it is the culmination of my four years at UWM. The piece began in the spring of 2013 as sketches outlining a generative structure reverse-engineered from Georges Perec’s novel Life a User’s Manual, which I was introduced to in the fall of 2012.

Each movement was assigned a set of six phrases through this generative structure, phrases such as “blast furnace,” “taxicab,” “Prussian blue,” and “only memory.” This semi-random grouping was designed to jumpstart my creativity, through the strange sort of imagery that appears when phrases like “old growth,” “synaesthetic,” and “self-reference” are united. In total, the piece used thirty-one phrases, assigned in groups of six across the nine movements, creating cross-references that would later stitch the piece together into the final shape it is now.

This piece is the intersection of several of my compositional interests, including the use of system, constraint, text, and various forms of notation and electronics, as well as other non-musical interests as well, most obviously writing, text, and literature, as well as visual art and performance art. Additionally, prussian blue is the capstone project of my Honors certificate.