Four Paintings (2021)

Jeffrey A. Young
Four Paintings (2021)

I. Water Lillies – The Setting Sun
II. Fish Magic
III. The Hallucinogenic Toreador
IV. In Bed, The Kiss

My work, Four Paintings, is an aural description of four famous paintings that have personal meaning to me. The first is inspired by the Monet work, Water Lillies – The Setting Sun, which was painted while the artist was partially blind. The second work recalls a painting called Fish Magic by the artist Paul Klee. It is tempura done on cardboard, and depicts a “theater” inhabited by fish. The third painting I chose is named The Hallucinogenic Toreador by Salvador Dali. It is a surrealist work, depicting aspects of a bull fight. The painting itself is inspired by the artist’s wife’s distaste for the sport. The fourth and final painting is an intimate work by Toulouse Letrec called, In Bed, The Kiss.

For this work, I have utilized many sounds found in the impressionist works of the composer Claude Debussy. Four Paintings is modally oriented as opposed to being functionally tonal, and relies heavily on modern jazz harmonies, including quartal and compound chords.