My “Fragment of Gratification” glances in the direction of some Cuban music which I heard recently. When composing the piece, I began by writing a short melodic fragment scored in octaves. The musical narrative was composed freely from this initial idea.

This “Fragment of Gratification” was written as a contribution to a publication of solo piano music composed by Australian composers during the year 2000, collectively entitled “Fragments of Gratification”, published by Reed Music.

With a duration of less than 2 minutes, my work exhibits various techniques of composition, such as repetition of phrases, rhythmic syncopation and registral contrasts. It is perhaps the registral contrasts that afford the work its sense of virtuosity.

The work also makes use of various octave doublings, principally for the purposes of clarity and brightness of tone. Occasional “added note chords” (such as an extended G major triad with an added G#) add textural contrast to the octave doublings.

With its use of contrast and melodic inventiveness, the work may be seen to possess a “crazy logic”. This is a term which I use to also describe my solo alto saxophone work of 2002, entitled “Air Traffic Control”.

Matthew Orlovich,
Composer.