​

Utter (2015)

for piano trio

​

This piece is inspired by the speech patterns of stutterers and, more generally, by the struggles that so many of us have with verbal expression.

 

Over the last few years, my work as a composer has concentrated on the aesthetic concept of imperfection. On the list of my own imperfections, shortcomings in verbal expression figure prominently: the more I use words, the more I feel my speech drifting from the truth I want to convey. The limitations I experience when using words parallels, at a more modest scale, the effect of stuttering for those who have to live with it.

 

Stuttering, of course, is infinitely complex, and I do not pretend to understand--let alone explain--the many psychological implications it has for those who experience it. With Utter, I rather wanted to concentrate on stuttering's mechanical component, on the sounds that result from it and on the unexpected beauty one can find in their irregular rhythms.