Hardware Love

Program note:

Hardware Love is the product of a rare text I received around 2am, when I was deep into composing another piece. My phone buzzed and came alive, and, rather than pulling me out of my musical headspace, it sparked the conception of a
new one. The vibration of the phone, plus the kind of casual depth these late-night conversations often lean towards, is what inspired Hardware Love. The sound world of a love letter is no longer the scratch of a pen, but the tapping of keys.

First in this piece is the buzz and fanfare of receiving a message so late at night, followed by long, melodic, romantic anticipation. Then, the conversation begins, and the tempo kicks up in excitement. Hardware Love is the loving energy that each of us has pressed into the keyboards of our devices, the percussive nocturne of modern romance.

-- Jake Landau

Jake Landau is the recipient of the 2017 Walter Hinrichsen Award. This is an annual award sponsored by C. F. Peters Corporation and presented via the auspices of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. It consists of the engraving and publication by Edition Peters of a work by a gifted composer who has been selected by the Music Committee of the Academy.

Walter Hinrichsen (1907 - 1969) established C.F. Corporation in New York in 1948. He was well known for his enthusiastic and courageous support of contemporary music.