About this Piece

In Brandenburg Interstices, which pays homage to Bach’s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, I tried to incorporate Bach as naturally as possible into my wide range of other musical influences (from minimalism to blues, American folk music, Ligeti, and Xenakis, among others). I envisioned a piece that would celebrate the way in which Bach has inspired me as well as demonstrate the connections I see between Bach and my other influences—by creating a music that morphs fluidly through the centuries and genres, suddenly emerging into spaces of Bach in the form of Bach-inspired textures and passages as well as direct quotes before again submerging Bach into the patchwork. The form mirrors Bach’s three-movement fast-slow-very fast structure, however I combined this three-part structure into a single movement. I organized each of my three parts around one quote from each of Bach’s movements. —Gabriella Smith, 2012