MKG Variations for cello is commissioned by Marlene Guzman. The work takes advantage of the sonorous qualities of the open strings on the cello. The piece stems out of a spiritual impulse. The first idea, an idea of calm yet anticipatory stasis, acts as a theme which is then varied in a string of variations. The variations range from a passionate expression of the theme to a percussive one; from an angry one to an extremely delicate one; from one that is somewhat Bach-like to one that is fleeting, but frozen in time; to one that is more raw and unforgiving. The work closes with a final presentation of the original theme, dissolving into silence, where it once originated from.
