Copyright © 2021 Stella G. Gitelman Willoughby
Piano: AnnaLotte Smith
Audio and Video Recording: Sam Gossner
Video Editing: Nina Hasin
Mixing: Téa Mottolese
Program Notes:
Without Flattery explores the textures of secundal and quartal harmonies.
The composition begins with an implied secundal harmony, created by the
overlapping and blurring of major and minor seconds in the lowest register
of the instrument. This evolves into tertian and quartal harmony in the
middle section – chords formed using a combination of third, fourth, and
tritone intervals. In the last section of the piece, the secundal clusters
return; however, elements of the quartal structures remain.
Silence in Without Flattery is of equal significance to the notes played.
The end of the last note before silence, and the beginning of the first
notes which breaks the silence and lead the listener to the next phrase,
are critical to this composition. These clusters, contrasts, and interactions
of sound and silence, as well as the weight and dynamic of each note should
help inform the moody, evocative, and dramatic character of this work.