Memory Quilt (Flute and Piano) - Programme Notes
                        (1999; 14':17")

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            A memory quilt is made by combining pieces of fabric (and/or other materials) that have some significance for the quilter(s).  For my musical Memory Quilt (1999), I began by laying out a some compositional fragments that I liked but had never used (usually because I had changed my mind and decided to take those pieces in a different direction), and then I experimentally combined them in different ways until I found a result that seemed promising. I then composed a significant amount of new material based on the musical fragments to give cohesiveness to the musical structure.
            As I was assembling/composing it, I noticed that some of the sections triggered strong and sometimes painful memories that related to the periods in which they were composed, which is how I got the idea for the title.  Although this approach may seem like a recipe for a disjointed composition, Memory Quilt did not turn out that way; it has some unexpected and dramatic changes in mood, but to me at least, it all hangs together in an organic way.  It has been performed by a variety of flute/piano performers, including Michelle Cheramy/Kristina Szutor, Karen Aurell/Barbara Pritchard, Vox 21 (Ireland), and Leslie Newman/Tim Steeves, who perform it beautifully on this recording.

©Clark Winslow Ross