Polyptychal Economy - for alto flute, viola, and classical guitar. Premiered in February 2025 by Honor Hickman, Anna Denfeld, and Gerardo Miranda.

I. The Annunciation II. The Apparition III. The Pilgrimage IV. The Transfiguration V. The Flight VI. The Farewell

Polyptychs are multi-panel paintings typically seen on altarpieces and primarily associated with Medieval Christian artistic practices. On one of the first days of 2025, I embarked on a pilgrimage all the way from my parents’ home in Fort Greene, Brooklyn to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350. The exhibit highlighted the works of a lesser-known school of artists who almost entirely perished during the first breakout of the black plague in Europe. In each of the polyptychs on display, the synthesis of different scenes created a non-linear narrative arc which enhanced the individual panels rather than subordinating them to a greater body. Though I was already almost finished with this piece, the exhibit offered me a new perspective on my own work. As with the short and slightly disjointed sections of this piece, the individual panels in a polyptych are quite small, and they only bear their full artistic significance when taken with the full collection. After my trip to the museum, the next few days were spent vigorously rewriting what I had already written to more closely model the Medieval polyptychs that I had so admired. Instead of a one-movement piece with individual sections, I decided to break the piece into six movements, all played attacca, to resemble the fluidity with which one’s gaze migrates between different panels on a polyptych.

This piece is dedicated to my roommate in Rochester, Gerardo Miranda, a fabulous guitarist. Ever since I arrived at Eastman, I have known I wanted to write a piece for this ensemble. I thank him for helping me with the idiosyncrasies of writing for the guitar.