Sky-Ocean (2025)

  • Instrumentation: for solo piano
  • Study on Helen Frankenthaler
  • | ca. 7 minutes | commissioned by Emely Phelps. With admiration and gratitude to pianist Emely Phelps
  • Premiere: Jan. 2026

PROGRAM NOTE:

Sky-Ocean for, solo piano (2025)

  1. I
  2. II
  3. Shards
  4. Plea

Sky Ocean is a set of four preludes responding to the artist Helen Frankenthaler’s 1987 painting titled Scarlatti. Frankenthaler named her painting after the 18th century classical composer Domenico Scarlatti, whose compositions are often heavily embellished by musical ornaments that give his music a sense of effortlessness and improvisation. These aspects of Scarlatti’s musical works were elements that Frankenthaler desired in her paintings.  

In Sky Ocean, I desired to reflect on the effect of Frankenthaler’s colors, gestures and sense of space in her painting. My musical ideas in this work are often expansive and fragmented, gradually pushing and developing their identities over each movement through subtle ornamentation and embellishment of musical thoughts. Sky Ocean was commissioned by pianist Emely Phelps and is dedicated to her with admiration and gratitude.