for two guitars (2008-2011) – six individual pieces totaling ~35 Minutes
Commissioned by: Duo Noire
World Premiere: The Figments are six individual pieces, and have been premiered at different times, individually and in groups. They can be programmed flexibly.
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For my wife Ana Berlin
The hypnotic and virtuosic FIGMENTS for two guitars features six duets exploring the limits of interdependence, in which the stereophonic whole of the sound is an intricately woven sum of its parts.
The FIGMENTS project began at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in 2007, when I met and began working with classical guitarists Thomas Flippin and Christopher Mallett, who would soon make their partnership official as Duo Noire. Begun around the time of my marriage, the FIGMENTS are dedicated to my wife Ana. Each explores dependence, a wholeness that is shared in two non-independent parts. Melodies and rhythmic schemes exist not in either player’s part but in the sum of the two, so the two parts must be together to make sonic sense. The unified outer texture is actually an illusion of two inextricably interwoven parts.
