five pieces from “Orchard” (2018) 
Tyler Kline 
 
Duration: ca. 8’30” 
 
Movements
I. yuzu 
II. mangosteen 
III. cloudberry 
IV. watermelon 
V. blood orange 
 
Program Notes
Each of these five pieces were originally composed as part of a larger collection of 50 solo piano works, collectively titled “Orchard.” Each piece in Orchard is named for and inspired by a botanical fruit. 
 
I. yuzu was the very first piece composed for Orchard. The music is made up almost entirely of four pitches spread across four octaves; halfway through the piece, a single dissonant note is introduced. The music is meant to represent the bright, yet sour, nature of yuzu fruit. 
 
II. Commissioned by Zixiang Wang, mangosteen’s musical texture is inspired by the shape of the fruit itself: mangosteen have a bulbous, purple outside and a tangy-sweet flesh. The fruit is highly perishable which is represented in the piece by each musical layer slowing down and becoming quiet over the course of each phrase. 
 
III. cloudberry was commissioned by Ann DuHamel as part of a set of pieces about fruits native to Minnesota. The musical texture overall is cloud-like, meant to be generally blurry, and is very loosely inspired by Luciano Berio’s Luftklavier from his Six Encores. 
 
IV. Pianist Mijung An commissioned watermelon because it’s one of her favorite fruits. The primarily-chordal music is inspired directly by the shape and size of watermelons. 
 
V. blood orange is dedicated to Susanna Hancock. This is my personal favorite piece from the Orchard collection: it’s the only piece I’ve performed publicly as a pianist, and it has been orchestrated as part of another work of mine, West of the Sun. 
 
Performance Notes
Similar to the full Orchard collection, these five pieces may be performed in any configuration. Performers may re-order the pieces, intersperse each piece within a full program, or choose to play any number of them (even just one).