Bang on a Can

The railroad cars are infinite in the stolen light of the moon. The relationship has ended: the world has shoved off into another infinity, where there is not a name for anything.

--first stanza of the poem, Another Infinity by Michael Burkard

When Michael Gordon called to tell me Bang on a Can wanted to commission me, of course, I gladly accepted. First of all, it was my first commission. Second of all, they were my favorite band. The timing was great. I had just quit my job with the intention to "make a go of it" as a composer. So I had all the time in the world. With the commission money I bought a computer and Sibelius software. I convinced myself that I had to take on a new method of composing. So I began writing ideas on the computer, everyday for 10-12 hrs. After about a week of writing bad ideas, I began to panic, but continued writing and panicking for about three more months. I couldn't write. I was worrying too much about whether my ideas were too simple, and too easy to play. For the last 10 years I've been making my own instruments, and teaching my friends how to play them. Outside of an occasional keyboard piece, I hadn't written for a "real" instrument since grad school. So I was in a real groove and writing came pretty easily. Now in desperation, I picked up my guitar and decided to play something, anything, that felt good: and that was going to be the basis of my piece. What I played, was the opening guitar ostinato. As I wrote it down, I immediately, heard the melody. Once I had the opening, my intention became clear. Through repetition I wanted the music to resonate by sometimes slowly changing, and at other times taking leaps, but not by developing. I wanted to keep it simple and to let it breathe. I didn't want to clutter the score.

--Edward Ruchalski