Like Clockwork

Program Notes

Commissioned by the Seattle Modern Orchestra for This is Beethoven Festival in 2020. The idea for the work came from our different experiences of time in the pandemic, ones that were missing the social interactions that had previously structured them. Instead, we connected with people online, as do the performers. I explored the meaning of what it is to “play together’ remotely and, eventually, for them to drive the piece forward without being physically together or constrained by a click track. What bound the players together was their relationship to this iconic compositional figure. Several Beethoven quotes were given to the musicians as references to inspire their improvisation, such as the Funeral March from Symphony No. 3 and the low, rumbling left hand from the 2nd movement of Piano Sonata No. 17, known as “The Tempest.” At the climax of the piece, each musician selects a Beethoven quote of their own to play independently but simultaneously, while the percussionist serving as metronome resets the tempo faster and faster… 

– Wang Lu