Publication's Style: Soft Cover - Score and Parts
Pages: 9
Level of Difficulty: Advanced
General Description: Contemporary Guitar Ensemble
Additional Set Of Parts - $4.95 (by special request)
Prism - M. A. Cruz (2006)
1st prize composition of the Austin Classical Guitar Society sponsored 2007 Guitars Galore composition competition.
During it's inception, Prism was titled and inspired after listening to an NPR radio show which featured a therapist by the name of Dr. Dan Gottlieb, who treats Quadriplegic patients. He mentioned that one of his patients viewed her soul as "a prism of many colors...", a vivid analogy of one's inner self. It is interesting to know that Dr. Gottlieb is himself a quadriplegic and it is amazing to think that someone facing such great adversity through his life is helping others who are experiencing the same challenges.
The title, Prism, is appropriate as this piece is made up of a variety of textures (colors, if you will). The theme, which is inspired by jazz idioms, is coupled with the pizzicato effect. A reduction to one guitar morphs the piece into a contrapuntal episode inspired by Bach. This section leads into dramatic new material which was originally intended to be developmental but inadvertently, by it's strength, became the C section. This is followed by hymn style writing in a much slower and lyrical setting. A duo is introduced midway through the hymn portion of the piece and later joined by the other two guitars to bring the work back to its original quick tempo and theme in the dominant key. This is followed by the return of the C section and concludes with a coda for new material based on existing content. The coda yields to the inevitable return to the home key.
The strength of this work rests not only on the development, but moreover, on the foundation of a symmetrical key structure. The piece opens in A minor, it then modulates to E minor, then to E major, back to E minor, and finally, returns to A minor, creating an aural arch.
There was more to Dr. Gottlieb's NPR interview – while his patient did express that she viewed her soul as a prism, she felt that when people looked at her, they never saw beyond one color. Prism is the embodiment of her soul in the form of sound for all of us to hear.
