Prelude: Dissent deals directly with the interaction between instruments. Smaller ensembles form and attempt to move in new directions, diverging from the prevailing texture. Often this new direction either engenders increasing support from one or more of the other instruments, or is discouraged and interrupted. The players are often called upon to use enough bow pressure to significantly alter the timbre of the given notes. When this technique is used, the notated pitch will be far less aurally prominent than the overtones within the resulting noise. Because of the difficulty in predicting each actual overtone (the pitch of which depends mostly on bow position), an aleatoric element is thus added to certain sections.

Prelude: Dissent was recently selected as a finalist in the International Contemporary Music Contest "Città di Udine", Italy. During the Contemporanea festival, it was performed by the Mikrokosmos ensemble, and appears on CD Contemporanea 2004 released by Taukay (taukay 126).

Performers:
Stephanie Teply and Amber Archibald, violin;
Aurelien Petillot, viola; Ben Westney, violoncello;
Jacy Cobalis, double bass;
Rob Deemer, conductor