LIFT-TILT-FILTER-SPLIT

In String Quartet No. 3: “lift – tilt – filter – split” (2010), I use successions of variously dynamic textures to represent complex interactions as they relate to shape and movement. I like to think of these textures as networks of musical structures perceived most immediately as generalized composites, but which have multi-stable perceptual characteristics as well, allowing the listener to bounce back and forth from the recognition of the unique parts and the undifferentiated whole. One of the things I find most interesting about these textures is their ability to absorb repetitions within networks of difference. For example, many sections in the work are constructed so that the composite rhythm from one phrase to the next is nearly identical, as is the timbre, pitch and register content. However, the distribution of these parameters is in constant flux. The result is music that is both always the same and always different, depending on how the listener chooses to follow the material.

– Alex Mincek