Like many living forms in nature, dahlias exhibit phyllotaxis, the botanical principle that governs the arrangement of petals and leaves according to the golden angle (approximately 137.5°). Mapping this angle onto pitch—360° to an octave—yields roughly 458.3 cents, somewhere between a wide major third and a narrow perfect fourth. I approximated this interval as a septimal major third (9/7) and derived four pitches around G to shape the piece’s main harmonies.

While I am endlessly fascinated by geometry , I want my music to be fundamentally about the leap from analysis to experience. To see a ower is to glimpse in nity: something that geometry can only suggest, accessible only through our tactile, imperfect senses and feelings. Dahlia is sarabande-like. It blooms twice, each time building toward a denser rhythm (following the Fibonacci series—I could not resist), like ower petals forming. The harmonies are derived from just intonation, itself a metaphor for nature, with its spirals rather than circles.

Dahlia was written in the summer of 2026 for the JACK Quartet and was commissioned by Nova Linea Musica. It premieres on September 30, 2026 in Chicago. (JS)

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