D ’ N ’ A is the most structurally layered of the three works in the cycle 3 Pieces on 2 Instruments for 1 Player. The solo version transfers the original duo concept into a single-performer setting, preserving the shifting distribution of roles between vibraphone and marimba.

The title operates on three levels. It refers first to the pitches D and A, which form the sustained fifth at the opening of the piece and serve as an intervallic nucleus. The material initially remains confined within this fifth before gradually expanding beyond it. The interval also suggests a structural image of two strands held in tension, between which the musical development unfolds. In addition, the title alludes to the artistic “DNA” of Duo Waltersdorfer, for whom the work was originally conceived.

Within the single-performer setting, melody, inner voices, bass functions, harmonic support and rhythmic propulsion shift continuously between the two instruments. An extended improvisational section intensifies the texture before a brief reminiscence of the opening material returns the music to its intervallic point of origin.

The work forms part of the cycle 3 Pieces on 2 Instruments for 1 Player.