Program Note

Remember Me? is a large-scale set of variations on Dido’s Lament from Henry Purcell’s opera Dido and Aneas. The variations trace an emotional and timbral journey across the four movements, which move from the keyboard (Part I) to inside the piano (Part II), to a duet between piano and toy piano (Part III) and, finally, a raucous ‘remembering’ of all that’s come before on two toy pianos (Part IV).

The piece explores an equally vast and unique sound world, with sections featuring melodicas, harmonicas, guitars picks, a crotale, and a myriad of other extended techniques. The piece was commissioned by, and written especially for HOCKET. It was great fun to write and was constantly inspired by their curiosity, virtuosity, and exuberance in performance.