A little over a week ago, I wrote about the first Lenten Improvisation. I talked a little about the curiosities about naming a composition “improvisation.” Or at least having a thoroughly composed piece sound as though the performer is improvising it. This set was specifically designed to sound in manner of how I like to improvise and this second movement is again not an exception.
I often like to build “towers” of sound in my improvising (here’s an example from a few years ago); this second work is a written out expression of my use of that technique. It moves a lot more than the linked example of me improvising, but that is one of the advantages of composing. I was able to get a stronger, more cohesive arc in the overall presentation of the material. Similar to the first movement, it ends with silence as the final “note” from the modestly dissonant final chord.