Observer of Beautiful Forms

Kalós
Eidos
Skopeô

In 1817, Scottish inventor David Brewster patented a new optical instrument “for exhibiting and treating beautiful forms and patterns.” He called his invention a “kaleidoscope,” derived from the Greek kalós (beautiful), eidos (form) and skopeô (to see)–together, “observer of beautiful forms.” Colour, form and pattern play important roles in my music, so this made a fitting inspiration for this new work for piano and orchestra. Of course, such instrumental resources certainly offer a kaleidoscope of possibilities, but “observer of beautiful forms” spoke to me of something greater and broader, of seeing the wonder of beauty and form in all its manifestations, in art and architecture and the world around us.

The first movement, Kalós, opens (perhaps unexpectedly for a piano concerto) with an extended gentle flute solo, from which the solo piano emerges in search of beauty, in a slow song that unfurls over shifting harmonies. The second movement, Eidos, creates structures out of motivic building blocks, in playful dance music reminiscent of an out-of-tune circus calliope. The final movement, Skopeô, opens with a cadenza for the solo pianist, leading into a fast toccata that evokes the swirling, circling shapes and patterns of the kaleidoscope, which shift into new configurations with each turn.

Observer of Beautiful Forms is dedicated to Dr. Martha Cohen, Ms. Sandra LeBlanc and Mrs. Vera Swanson, whose vision and dedication to a cultural centre in Calgary made an architectural Beautiful Form possible.