Augusta Read Thomas: Amalgam for Solo Piano [Printed Music]

The spirit of Amalgam is that no two chords, motives, lines, phrases, rhythms are exactly the same. Everything is transforming – everything is an amalgam.

Amalgam unfolds a chain link of transformations, variations and outgrowths. Musical connections are orbital; sounds cross-fertilize and establish relationships which, in turn, create new intersections and fulcrum points. The sonic predecessors of this work include Ravel, Debussy, Scriabin, Herbie Hancock, Art Tatum, Cecil Taylor, and Bill Evans, whose musical perfumes I have reveled in for decades.