Pareidolia and Other Habits

ensemble 3.3.3.3., 4.3.3.1, timp.+3, pno., strings
written winter 2023
duration 9 minutes

Commissioned by the Barlow Endowment, as the winner of the 2022 Barlow Prize

program notes

Humans have a fascinating tendency to search for meaning or patterns in places where there might not be any. Be them faces in the clouds (pareidolia), coincidental events aligning with birthdays (synchronicity), or backward messages hidden in metal albums (patternicity), such moments of projected meaning have entered into the stuff of legend. This kind of magical thinking is well studied in psychology, anthropology, and beyond, perhaps because of the myriad truths it reveals about us as a species.

To me, pareidolia - finding meaning in nebulous stimuli - speaks to a natural desire for communication. There is a genuine thrill in believing one has deciphered an encoded message, especially when the implied author seems to have coyly concealed their words. From the quotidian (the chocolate chips in my muffin look like my cat, Whiskers) to the silly (someone embedded Donkey Kong in this AI-generated landscape) to the grandiose (the stars have arranged themselves into the face of God), receiving these supposed messages can make one feel special - like they’ve discovered a secret language.

Pareidolia and Other Habits is a piece about finding meaning in the smallest of gestures. The work is built out of small, simple ideas that ripple and reverberate across the orchestra, echoing to and fro between instrumental sections. Individual string harmonics prefigure a vibraphone tune; dust-like, particulate sounds gather into ferocious tuttis; melodic motifs stretch and compress capriciously, notes dropping in and out at will. As vivid and dramatic as the music is, though, the piece was written without any program or image in mind. Just as we might see faces in rock formations, we try (and often are able) to derive story, emotion, and meaning from purely instrumental, abstract music. This piece, ultimately, is a celebration of that.