Pathways IV: Rhymes & Spirals
Complete Work Title:
Pathways IV: Rhymes & Spirals
Performance Medium:
solo piano and chamber orchestra (2 versions):
- 25 players: 2 flutes (1 dbl. alto flute; 2 dbl. piccolo), oboe, English horn, Bb clarinet, Bb bass clarinet, bassoon, 2 F horns, 2 Bb trumpets, trombone, 2 percussion, strings (33221).
- 15 players: flute (dbl. alto flute, piccolo), oboe (dbl. English horn), Bb clarinet (dbl Bb bass clarinet), bassoon, 2 F horns, Bb trumpet, trombone, 2 percussion, strings (11111).
Duration:
20:00
Date Composed:
October 2023 – June 2024
Dedication:
to Heidi, Gabriel, and Maxwell;
composed for Redi Llupa
Movements:
- Descent — Fragmentation
- Uprising — Malaise
- Transmission — Response — Skirmish (cadenza)
- Interregnum — Breach — Plus ça change (coda)
Additional Information:
This work is part of an ongoing series of related concerti for solo instrument and chamber orchestra; additional information about this series, is included in the Projects section of this website.
Recording:
Redi Llupa, piano; Ensemble Ibis, conducted by Shawn Crouch. Performed 11 April 2025, University of Miami Frost School of Music Gusman Concert Hall.
Score:
Program Note:
“What experience and history teach is that peoples and governments never learn anything from history.”
— Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1832)
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
— George Santayana, The Life of Reason (1905)
“It has been said that history repeats itself. This is perhaps not quite correct; it merely rhymes.”
— Theodor Reik, “The Unreachables” (1965)
“Some people say history moves in a spiral…. We travel through time in a circular trajectory, our distance increasing from an epicenter only to return again, one circle removed.”
— Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous (2019)
Begun in 1993, Pathways is a series of works for solo instrument and large chamber ensemble, consisting of a single, fixed accompaniment that provides a continuously transforming sonic landscape through which each soloist traverses its unique way. The conceptual metaphor for Pathways is that of a traveler (soloist) and their individual relationship with the surrounding environment on a given journey. The four concerti in this series composed to date— featuring trombone, percussion, soprano saxophone, and piano—explore these various relationships in contrasting ways. Superimposed onto this metaphorical conceptual framework is a distinct narrative element that informs the individual soloist/ensemble relationship in each work. The fourth in the series, Rhymes & Spirals is intended as a commentary on the political and cultural events in the United States (and elsewhere in the world) over the previous decade. The title refers to the cyclical nature of political ideologies, global pandemics, social movements, and the disruption to the prevailing order associated with these phenomena.
Pathways IV: Rhymes & Spirals was composed for pianist Redi Llupa, who first performed the work with Shawn Crouch and Ensemble Ibis on 11 April 2025 at the University of Miami.
Performance/Broadcast History:
| Date | Venue | Location | Performer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 April 2025 | University of Miami Frost School of Music Gusman Concert Hall [premiere] | Coral Gables, FL | Redi Llupa, piano; Shawn Crouch, Ensemble Ibis |
Premiere performance at the University of Miami, with pianist Redi Llupa and Ensemble Ibis, conducted by Shawn Crouch (11 April 2025).