A Dollar in All Pennies

This piece came about as a commission from Adam Scott Neal and the Terminus Ensemble of Atlanta, Georgia for a concert of all “miniature” works for solo instruments. After being invited to participate in the project, I began to ponder ideas for the piece, trying to consider a style and a purpose that would fit into the simplicity of a one-minute miniature.

In an unrelated conversation about a stylistic term in another piece of music, the descriptor of “Expansively” was misheard as “Expensively,” and I was inspired to follow that idea for this composition. While quite the ambiguous and ill-defined descriptor for a piece of music, I was still amused by the term and kept it, anxiously awaiting to hear future performers’ personal interpretations of the meaning of the word as they communicate that through the music.

The title of the piece was suggested to me by none other than the illustrious and exotic L.F.T. After hearing a final draft of the piece, the idea came about in consideration of the many short, staccato tones throughout the works, each as being a “penny” to make up the whole “dollar” that is the piece, and of course, the “dollar” being a nod to the one-minute duration. On another level, the entire program for which “A Dollar in All Pennies” was written will be a collection of many one-minute works that will come together to create one program.

Many thanks go out to Adam Scott Neal for his invitation to participate in this endeavor. It’s truly an honor to have been asked to be a part!