White Mass is loosely inspired by the work of two mystically inclined composers, one historical and one current -- Alexander Scriabin and Charlemagne Palestine. A contemporary of early minimalists like Terry Riley and Steve Reich, Palestine considers his own music "maximalist," in that it is in some way meant to contain all possibilities, all music. His extended organ and piano improvisations tend to consist entirely of long, sustained tones or tremolos, progressing from one or two notes to massive cluster chords over the course of several minutes. These clusters often activate layers of upper harmonics rarely heard from the piano or the organ.

Section I of White Mass delves into Palestine's textural world, using electronics to artificially magnify the resonance of the piano. Sections II and III present radical departures, or alternate versions of the same material. Harmonically, the piece is closer to the idiosyncratic chromaticism of Scriabin, and the piece begins and ends with the same dyad (G-B) that Scriabin also used to open his ninth sonata (also called the "Black Mass" sonata). Scriabin’s sonata is built upon a descending chromatic motive that seems as though it could plummet eternally, while the general trajectory of my piece is up.

Thanks to Aron Kallay, who designed the electronic environment for the piece, which allows the performer to manipulate various parameters in a live setting.

The following excerpt is from the third section of the piece. It was performed by the composer on March 3rd, 2008, in the USC United University Church Sanctuary.