Piece By Piece

Ravello Records proudly presents the digital single PIECE BY PIECE, the PARMA debut of composer Beth Mehocic (ma•ho´•sick). Her work of the same name is scored for flute, bass clarinet, trumpet, bass trombone, violin, contrabass, and percussion and is performed by the Moravian Philharmonic Chamber Players. Piece by Piece was commissioned by the Erick Hawkins Dance Company of New York City in honor of their former director and composer-in-residence, Lucia Dlugoszewski. Dlugoszewski is known for her developments in avant-garde music technique and experimental music; thus, Mehocic includes a number of these techniques in the piece, including pitch bends, rapid glissandi, muting techniques, and extreme ranges. These effects are made all the more striking by Mehocic’s kaleidoscopic orchestration—brassy wails, brittle string snaps, and nasally trumpet pervade the piece. Piece by Piece also creates the illusion of free rhythm and meter in a completely metered setting, with an energy that is constantly shifting. The rhythmic and timbral play result in a spirited, kinetic work, with each instrument always interacting with another. Each sound dances around, or with, or against the next—a vibrantly patterned collage of musical color.