Rebecca Morris
"Chevron PAir" 31x30" oil on canvas 1998

Refrains is a set of refrains. The cello and piano keep returning to the composition's dark opening gesture while the music in between is eventually reiterated as well. Since I generally refrain from exact repetition in my music, each return becomes more complex, ramified, and contextually manifold.

The piece was inspired in part by the 1995 Ph.d dissertation by my colleague Ciro Scotto which develops some new techniques for generating what are called "self-deriving arrays." These arrays are the basis for my piece's structure and account for its autogenic character.