Continuous Interior (2022)
For Vibraphone and Electronic Playback
I. Flickering, light
II. Languid, dreamy
III. Urgent, breathless
18 minutes
Click here for the version for vibraphone and string quartet
Program Notes
Imagine walking through a shopping mall, a large warehouse, an airport terminal, Ikea. These are spaces with seemingly no end or beginning. They unfold in one unbroken path, creating a sense of limitless interior within a bounded, enclosed space. As you walk details change, but the feeling of being within the same, vast, open space remains. This is a very modern feeling. In thinking about this, I felt resonance with the idea of moving through a musical space. I often experience music similarly: contained by the form, yet also a sense of being within one stretch of a long, continuous stream of musical thought. For my piece, Continuous Interior, I imagined a stroll through this kind of limitless space, with each movement being a stop along the way. On this walk we experience three distinct places. The first movement draws out waves of rocking strings against a ringing vibraphone texture. Long lines emerge as echoes of accented vibraphone tones float plaintively above the undulating string texture. The second movement is slow and lyrical, somewhat wistful yet also mysterious and dreamy. The final movement pushes forward with a churning, dance-like energy, reveling in the vibraphone sound against the clock-like, mechanical pulsation of the string quartet. The piece ends, certainly, but perhaps it could also go on and on.
Continuous Interior was commissioned by the Vibraphone Project with support from New Music USA and a consortium including: Aaron Michael Butler, Lindsey Eastham, Brian Graiser, Boyce Jeffries, Cassidy Lester, and Alan Zimmerman.
This work was part of ‘Contributions to the Vibraphone: Pamela Z and Robert Honstein’ which was supported by New Music USA, made possible by annual program support and/or endowment gifts from Helen F. Whitaker Fund, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Inc.
Continuous Interior was recorded by Abby Fisher and released on Neuma Records, April 24, 2026, available on Bandcamp and All Streaming Services.
Purchase
For vibraphone and electronic playback
Duration ~18 minutes
In three movements
The digital download of the score will be available immediately upon purchase. To order the print version, please go to the following link: Continuous Interior (Solo Version Print)
**Current students can use the code Student20 at checkout for a 20% student discount**
For vibraphone and electronic playback
Duration ~18 minutes
In three movements
“The marriage of percussion and electronics is magical, creating newfound space, its repetitions implying the flawed infinity of the places of the title.”
- Colin Clarke, Fanfare
“a richly layered soundscape that feels both expansive and intimate, constantly shifting in focus and perspective.”
- Jonathan Wildran, The JW Vibe
“A hallucinatory experience.” [translation]
- Ben Taffijn, Nieuwe Noten
“incredibly welcoming and thought-provoking”
- Recording Artist Guild (RAGMag)
"Utterly appealing and almost playful in its evolution.”
- John Hammel, Homegrown Radio
“Think of Brian Eno toying with some toys”
- George W. Harris, Jazz Weekly
Recent Performances
April 3, 2026 House Concert, Flagstaff, AZ. Abby Fisher
October 2, 2023 | Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ. Abby Fisher (solo + electronics version)
July 29, 2023 Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. Abby Fisher (solo + electronics version)