In superstring theory, the entire universe is said to be the manifestation of the vibrations made by infitesimally small one-dimensional strings. This fanciful notion was the initial inspiration for the title Oscillations, which can also refer to many other things: most obviously, the vibrations of the piano strings themselves, but also the undulating chromatic gestures that span the entire range of the instrument and the chameleonic changes of idiom that spread through the landscape of the piece. There is an abstract quality to some of the more virtuosic passages that is perhaps related to my admittedly vague conception of string theory: the individual notes themselves too small, too quick to measure, yet in groups they cohere, collate, coagulate, forming a gesture, a texture, a structure, a world.

Premiere: Sunday November 6th, 2005, 8:00pm
USC Thornton School of Music Composers' Showcase
Alfred Newman Recital Hall, University of Southern California
Katalin Lukacs, piano