<p><em>Cuts</em> is a compositional étude of singular focus. Throughout this work, harmonic, rhythmic, and textural characteristics remain invariant, while the music's registral, dynamic, and timbral aspects witness continual mutation. The first minute of <em>Cuts</em> presents basic materials, and the remaining music is realized through their temporal, directional, and parametrical redistribution. <em>Cuts</em> is also an étude for the performer, as a certain virtuosity is required to bring the changing details of the musical surface into relief.</p><p>This work was written for Stefan Litwin and is dedicated to Milton Babbitt on the occasion of his eightieth birthday. I am grateful to the MacDowell Colony for granting me the opportunity to compose this work during a residency there in June, 1996.</p><p><em>Jason Eckardt</em><br /></p><p></p>