ensemble solo piano
duration 13 minutes
written winter 2011
commissioned by Ecstatic Music Festival
premièred March 5, 2011, New York, NY
published by ↪ Project Schott New York

The third in a series of pieces having to do with Charles Ives and the tradition of musical Americana, At the River is an old-school piano “fantasy” on the American hymn Shall we Gather at the River?. The tune is first exploded into a long, quasi-improvised “strumming piece”, whose repetitive figurations pay homage to the minimalist juggernauts of Alvin Curran and Charlemagne Palestine. After a gradual ascent to the top of the keyboard, a distant chorale takes up; more recognizable bits of the hymn are heard in far-flung keys.

At the River is dedicated to Ingram Marshall, whose work merges sacred and secular in mysterious and beautiful ways.

Last year, the disconcertingly young New York composer and pianist Timothy Andres released a fine album, Shy and Mighty – a collection of 10 beautifully spare compositions for two pianos … Another such example comes from a piece he posted on his website over the weekend. The new work, At The River, is a 13-minute-long piano composition, which Andres says was written and recorded hastily, and rolls along incessantly and swiftly with dramatic turns here and there. A lovely effort from a fascinating and fast-developing musician.

—Larry Ryan, The Independent

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