America/Beautiful - Michael Gandolfi: “Of Liberating Strife” (Min Kwon, piano)

About the Piece
When pianist Min Kwon invited me to compose a short piece for her America / Beautiful e pluribus unum project, one that seeks to commission over seventy composers to contribute to “a 21st century American Diabelli Variations” that will “celebrate this country’s contributions to the field of classical music,” I was immediately interested. I have written several works inspired by American history, current events, and politics, and I saw a way into this piece through this lens.
There is much beauty to celebrate in the United States, but these are also fraught times. America is in the process of deep change, which is producing great pain, suffering and social division. Of Liberating Strife may reflect some of this turmoil in several of its disjunct figures and moments of dissonant harmony, but it also seeks to express optimism through its rhythmical vitality, and assured, forward thrust.
Of Liberating Strife is affectionately dedicated to Min Kwon.
For more information on Min Kwon’s America/Beautiful project, visit www.america-be....