So it has been a GOOD minute since I last posted on this site. I unfortunately have not had much time to write, but probably should have made some as I really could have used the outlet while working on my last piece and also while figuring out my Chamber Symphony. In any case, I’m back (hopefully for a while?) and writing program notes. This semester I am having my piece “Figments II” performed in its entirety (3 movements for a total of 20 minutes) and as the deadline for submission approaches, I figure I should maybe submit my entry seeing as how the performers (myself included) have been rehearsing together for like, 5 weeks or so. Whatever, here I go.
Figments II
Mvt. I – Dance of the Trickster
Mvt. II – Between
Mvt. III – Ethereal Variations
Flute – Emily Olsen
Violin – Rachel Shepard
Viola – Korin Wahl
Cello – Joshua Dent
Piano – Dorian Hawkins
Figments II is the second of three installments in the Figments cycle.
The first movement entitled “Dance of the Trickster” is just that. At the beginning, through a gradual crescendo in, instrumentation, range, and dynamics, the listener is brought into the world of the trickster. Each of the sections that follows has a different rhythmic pulse while maintaining the playful, yet sinister quality that makes the Trickster so infamous.
The second movement entitled “Between” depicts two contrasting points of view about spirits. The first concept of spirits presented in the movement, is the generally more often recognized view that spirits are creepy and disturbing. The second concept which makes itself apparent about halfway through the movement-via a brief “chorale” in the strings-explores the more ‘romantic’ side of spirits: the idea that spirits are what remain of those who have some unfinished business. After the second theme is introduced, the two become juxtaposed all while implying two different keys (E minor and F Major) before climaxing with a four-chord progression. However, in accordance with the concept of “unfinished business”, this progression traps itself and eventually loses sight of the tonic triad suggesting the hopelessness of ever truly being at peace.
The third and final movement, entitled “Ethereal Variations” is a theme and variations movement. There are four variations, each with a life of its own and with each representing different types of imaginary creatures; the first variation is subtitled, “Spirits of the Air”; the second variation “Mischief and Mayhem”; the third subtitled “The Fallen”; and the last subtitled, “The Infernal”.
