Piano Quintet
For 2 Violins, Viola, Cello & Piano
(2023)
Premiered by Mariel Mayz and the Lydian String Quartet
Duration: 11 minutes
This is Mayz’s first piece for piano quintet and employs contrasting characters between the strings and the piano, drawing inspiration from traditional solo concerti forms. The work is an experiment in reinvented dance forms, using rhythmic structures as its primary impulse.
At the center of the composition lies a contrasting section that pays homage to Tchaikovsky's Piano Trio. The world tends to transform more quickly than I can complete a piece… so the decision to introduce a new frame of mind mid-work is deliberate. This restatement "à la mémoire d’un grand artiste" is perhaps hyper-expressive, but meant to confront passivity, indifference, and emotional numbness.