Bang on a Can

"Snakes and Ladders" is a board game. You throw the dice and advance along a path around the board. Sometimes you land on a square with a ladder that allows you to climb to another square further along the path. And sometimes you land on a square with a snake, and you slither back down to a square you just came from. Two steps forward, one step back. If you're lucky. Snakes and Ladders the piece started from a somewhat similar premise, except that some of the players get to change the rules. Of course by the time the piece was finished those beginnings had become rather obscure! But the emphasis remains resolutely fixed on the idea of climbing ladders. Problem is, when you get to the top there's always another ladder waiting for you. Or was it just a dream?

Snakes and Ladders was commissioned as part of the national series of works from Meet the Composer Commissioning Music/USA, which is made possible by generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Helen F. Whitaker Fund, and the Target Foundation.