Program Notes

Chambered Spirals emerged as my first composition completed during the pandemic lockdown, serving as a chamber concerto seeking to transcend the confines of its sonic space and venture towards an expansive vista. Initially, the music remains subdued and restrained, with string mutes, resonating chamber-like percussion instruments (such as temple blocks, wood blocks, and various drums), and explorations inside the piano (harmonics, stopped string thuds, thunder sounds, ebows, percussive hits, piano bow) shaping its introspective nature. Nevertheless, it persistently strives for liberation.

Throughout the piece, kaleidoscopic spiral-like shapes weave their way into the musical landscape in varying degrees of magnitude. Embracing a non-linear approach to form, the composition gives rise to evocative experiences like wormholes, premonitions, and déjà vu, fostering proportional and fractal relationships that manifest themselves in both the micro and macro articulation of time.

— Felipe Lara