Commissioned by: Ives Ensemble, with financial support from the Netherlands Fund for the Performing Arts
First Performance: Ives Ensemble, May 8 2010, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam
First Performance revised version: Asko|Schönberg, February 2 2020, Joe Byrd Hall, Peabody, U.S.
Instrumentation: Flute, Cello, Piano, Percussion & Sinewaves
Duration: ca. 18’
Special Features: Stopwatch monitor on stage plus sound engineer

Score samples

Info/Program note:
Parallels (2010, rev. 2019) consists of five consecutive movements for flute, cello, piano, percussion and sinewaves. The work sets out to explore possible harmonic progressions which can be derived from sliding contrapuntal sinewaves. Each of the five parts is based on a particular geometric shape (set for 2 to 6 moving voices) which is then grafted onto a fixed duration of approximately 3 1/2 minutes and translated to harmonic motion for the musicians. Moving in either parallel, or near-parallel motion, the instruments then track the horizontal and harmonic contours of the sinewaves in differing temporal relationships. Two parts descend, over an octave or over three octaves, while the three remaining parts describe single, double or quadruple parabolas. After its initial premiere by the Ives Ensemble in 2010 the work was extensively revised and re-notated in its entirety in 2019 and premiered in its new form by the Asko|Schönberg Ensemble in 2020.