Study V
for MIDI-controlled piano or MIDI piano

Work no. 243
2023

This long piece is an extension of the seventh movement of Star Colors, a large piano cycle I composed in 2022. The original movement, Lavender, was written using four distinct rhythmic patterns. Neither melodies nor harmonies ever repeated, but these rhythms remained the same, only multiplying with each section: ABCD, AABBCCDD, AAABBBCCCDDD, and so on. They'd pile on top of each other, creating very messy textures. The more polyrhythmic, the more convoluted the rhythms became, the more difficult it was for me to adjust the melodic lines, and the more difficult the piece was to play. By the end of it, it was almost impossible to perform for a human pianist, and that was with just four instances of the same rhythm playing.

So the idea stayed in my head, to create a continuation of the piece which would be for MIDI-controlled piano. This time it ends at six instances of the same rhythm. I was very curious where the music would lead me: most solutions seemed to result in completely chaotic texture. Once I unraveled one measure of music, trying to make it flow and make sense logically and emotionally, the next measure was already there, presenting new difficulties. At the very end of the piece, first the melodies then the rhythms finally break down. And although I didn't plan for this to happen, it's also the way Wisteria ends – another Star Colors satellite, composed a few weeks earlier than Study V.