Program Note:
My three-movement piano work entitled MNEMONICS is dedicated to Elliott Carter, whom I have known for forty years and with whom my wife and I have become particularly friendly during the past twenty years. Elliott possesses an astonishing memory, which remains intact even as he sails toward his 101st birthday. For this reason I chose a title that refers to memory. It is also derived from the Greek, a language that Carter actually once taught at St. John's College. In fact, in his note to me accepting the dedication, he wrote out in Greek letters the word mnēmonikos, which means "mindful."
The three movements are entitled Signs, Spaces, and Touch--possible triggers of recall.