Fantasy Pieces
2013 | woodwind quintet | Op. 17
duration: 15:00
commissioned by Valinor Winds for the inaugural concert of Curious Flights
I. Overture
II. Scherzo
III. Lamentation
IV. Finale
Program Note
For a young composer, there is perhaps nothing more valuable than talented friends who are keen on one’s music. The members of Valinor Winds have long been such friends. In the fall of 2012, Valinor’s clarinetist, Brenden Guy, approached me about writing a woodwind quintet for the inaugural concert of his new music series, Curious Flights. I had only recently completed my Quartet for Clarinet, Strings, and Piano, which was written and premiered by Guy, and was thrilled to be so quickly asked for another chamber work. The resulting composition, Fantasy Pieces, was written in early 2013 and premiered that April.
At first glance, composing a woodwind quintet presents a unique set of challenges. A composer must consider carefully the presence of rests and breaths. In addition, the coloristic qualities of the instruments at first glance seem quite disparate. Yet these challenges can be transformed into musical virtues. Breaths and rests give a piece buoyancy and allow distinctive instrumental colors to come to the fore; and those five unique instruments, I quickly discovered, blend together with vibrancy.
As suggested by its title, Fantasy Pieces, is an abstract work cast in a four-movement formal structure. Much like similarly titled works by Schumann and Brahms, the word “fantasy” refers not to a lack of formal structure, but rather to the sound-world of the music itself.
The first movement, Overture, is somewhat grotesque in nature; a bizarre musical landscape superimposed upon a foreshortened sonata form. The musical themes are restless and in perpetual transition.
The Scherzo, is jovial and silly. The movement opens with a fast, pulsating first section that meanders into a “house of mirrors” middle section, before returning assertively to the opening material.
The third movement, Lamentation, is the expressive heart of the work. The long opening melody comes from augmentation of a musical reference suggested to me by Guy. Perhaps in friendly homage, the clarinet delivers the first long iteration of the theme.
After a brief pause, the Finale leaps suddenly into being. After the bizarre, almost absurd music of the first two movements, and the anguish of the third, the Finale exhibits a certain bold triumph. The resoluteness of the ending chords hearkens the end of the Overture, as if snapping back into place that which had been left slightly awry.
commissioned by Valinor Winds for the inaugural concert of Curious Flights
I. Overture
II. Scherzo
III. Lamentation
IV. Finale
Program Note
For a young composer, there is perhaps nothing more valuable than talented friends who are keen on one’s music. The members of Valinor Winds have long been such friends. In the fall of 2012, Valinor’s clarinetist, Brenden Guy, approached me about writing a woodwind quintet for the inaugural concert of his new music series, Curious Flights. I had only recently completed my Quartet for Clarinet, Strings, and Piano, which was written and premiered by Guy, and was thrilled to be so quickly asked for another chamber work. The resulting composition, Fantasy Pieces, was written in early 2013 and premiered that April.
At first glance, composing a woodwind quintet presents a unique set of challenges. A composer must consider carefully the presence of rests and breaths. In addition, the coloristic qualities of the instruments at first glance seem quite disparate. Yet these challenges can be transformed into musical virtues. Breaths and rests give a piece buoyancy and allow distinctive instrumental colors to come to the fore; and those five unique instruments, I quickly discovered, blend together with vibrancy.
As suggested by its title, Fantasy Pieces, is an abstract work cast in a four-movement formal structure. Much like similarly titled works by Schumann and Brahms, the word “fantasy” refers not to a lack of formal structure, but rather to the sound-world of the music itself.
The first movement, Overture, is somewhat grotesque in nature; a bizarre musical landscape superimposed upon a foreshortened sonata form. The musical themes are restless and in perpetual transition.
The Scherzo, is jovial and silly. The movement opens with a fast, pulsating first section that meanders into a “house of mirrors” middle section, before returning assertively to the opening material.
The third movement, Lamentation, is the expressive heart of the work. The long opening melody comes from augmentation of a musical reference suggested to me by Guy. Perhaps in friendly homage, the clarinet delivers the first long iteration of the theme.
After a brief pause, the Finale leaps suddenly into being. After the bizarre, almost absurd music of the first two movements, and the anguish of the third, the Finale exhibits a certain bold triumph. The resoluteness of the ending chords hearkens the end of the Overture, as if snapping back into place that which had been left slightly awry.