Kris Peysen      Composer

Restlessness

This piece came about as the result of a 24-hour composing exercise at the University of Iowa. The premise was composers would be randomly paired with performers and then would have 24 hours to write a piece for whatever instrument(s) he or she received, and then the performers would have 24 hours to rehearse the piece in time for a concert. I had never done any kind of speed-writing exercise before, so this was an interesting experience for me. All things considered, I think it turned out pretty well. Since these pieces had to be written very quickly, I don’t think anyone expected them to be very deep or nuanced (nor to be lengthy - we were told not to go over three minutes). And mine isn’t. But I think it works pretty effectively as a miniature. I particularly like the simplicity of the ending and how it (hopefully) will affect the listener. Sometimes, less is more.

September 2016

Performances:

September 8, 2019:  University of Iowa

September 4, 2016:  University of Iowa

For solo piano