Program Note

After having spent the better part of half a year studying intensively for major exams while working on my doctorate, I found myself wonderfully energized and ecstatic with my new abundance of free time once they were over. This piece was started while I was still in the midst of that euphoric, manic delight of having a huge weight lifted from my shoulders; it brims with energy that is in turns playful and volatile and frequently changes in ways that are often unexpected.

Scale 9 is the scale used to measure hypomania in the MMPI, a manual widely used by psychologists which provides diagnostic criteria for various mental conditions. I try to capture some of the hallmarks of a manic episode in this piece; especially distraction by irrelevant stimuli, flights of ideas, elevated mood, and accelerated and occasionally out-of-control motor activity. -Sean Friar