Program notes

civic

Jonathan Bingham
2021

If a palindromic pattern is to be used in a musical work it’ll likely be a reoccurring figure or small compositional technique. One might expect such a pattern to be based on an order of notes with inversions or retrogrades as in the development sections of fugues and sonatas, not the body of the piece, however, this is the case for CIVIC. As the title suggests, CIVIC is a work having its structure the same forward as it is backward. The palindrome within the work is the form started by the procession-like entrances of the instrumental families of the string orchestra. 

The double bass section introduces a theme (A) lasting 7 bars ending on a one note cadence. It’s repeated by the 2nd violins ending on a two note cadence. The violas continue the pattern with only the first six bars with a three note cadence. An entrance from the cellos continue the pattern with the first five bars and a four note cadence; the same with the 1st violins entering the first four bars with a five note cadence—only not so much a cadence anymore as it is a new theme (B). (Each time we hear theme B grow, it’s from its final notes, i.e. the last note is heard first, then the last two, last three, and so on.) The pattern completes when theme B consists of seven notes replacing the seven bars of A. The pattern reverses with B being the dominant theme and a modified A theme growing in backwards one bar at a time—the pattern is the same backward as it is forward. Once the palindrome is complete, both themes are heard side by side then simultaneously for the final section. The piece then ends on the same figure it began on from the double basses.

Keeping up on the work’s identity, the piece consists of 202 bars. If played at the given tempo of 101 beats per minute, the last note will be heard at the 6 minute and 26 second mark. 202, 101, and 626 are all part of CIVIC’s palindromic design.

CIVIC was commissioned by the Portland Youth Philharmonic and received an online premiere April 10, 2021.

About the Composer

Jonathan Bingham is an acclaimed composer for both electronic and acoustic instrumentation. His work has been performed at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and he has scored over a dozen film productions which have premiered at the New York Film Festival, Rome International Film Festival, and BFI London Film Festival, among others. Having lectured at Stanford and Columbia Universities, he currently serves on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Program note by Jonathan Bingham