'Improvisations after J. R. for solo vibraphone were written under the impression of artworks of Julie Rafalski. These works were presented at an exhibition in 2014 in Wooden Gallery in Chicago. The piece was performed by the composer at the opening night of the exhibit on April 12, 2014. Julie Rafalski’s works create dialogue with the visual language of modernist artworks and architecture, intervening with the works of others and adding another layer of meaning to them. She often uses found images of modernist works. Dear Mondrian V is a collage that references the paintings of Piet Mondrian. The overlaid colored gels establish a playful dialogue with Mondrian’s visual language. The work Rip is a cyanotype that portrays architect Oscar Niemeyer’s Alvorada Palace. One of the oldest photographic processes, the cyanotype method here is used to portray the utopian architecture of Niemeyer; the dated cyanotype process contrasts with the architecture that was aimed to be a monument to the future. ***

Improvisations are named after five works of Julie Rafalski.
Footnotes I, in blue-green cool colors with one sharp red accent in a shape of triangle, musically represents for me a footnote F#. This low note corresponds with sounds in the higher registers on the principles of harmonic series. The pitches F# and C# are reflected in the higher registers and create new harmonic structures.
In the work Dear Mondrian V the music is reflecting the bright geometric figures (red ones with juxtaposed blue triangles). This improvisation, set in fast tempo, presents very brisk interchange of motives in the “cold” and „warm” harmonies.
Ghost III gradually changes colors, from red (warm) to blue (cold). Similarly, in the music, the “warm” harmonies are gradually changing into “cold” chords and more dissonant harmonies. This transformation of colors is achieved in music by systematic changes of structures of chords.
In Rip, which is a cyanotype, the blue hues were translated in music to 4th and 5th chords, which, for me, create “cold” harmonies. The music is built on continuous reiterations of slightly and slowly changing motives.
Ghost IV is full of warm colors. The harmony is exploring the triadic chords, and more specifically the chords on dominant.'


(Marta Ptaszynska)