Rooted in the Los Angeles light and heat that shapes much of Novak's practice, Prelude uses long, sustained tones built from processed field recordings and synthesis to create something that feels less like a beginning than a slow revelation. The work sits in dialogue with minimalist composition — Novak studied under figures in that tradition — and carries that discipline into pure texture and duration. Each layer arrives and dissolves with quiet precision, the whole piece functioning as a single extended gesture rather than a sequence of moments. The layers change slowly enough that it's easy to lose track of when the whole scene shifted.
appears in: study session