sister to the flame (2013)
for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, percussion (vibraphone, triangle, 2 suspended cymbals, 3 toms), violin, and double bass
This piece, written for an iteration of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat ensemble, was very loosely inspired by ideas from my miniature opera Brother Fire. Since Brother Fire's text is under copyright and the piece couldn't have much of a life past its first performance, I decided to build upon my favorite ideas in a new instrumental piece. Brother Fire's language is a bit simpler than the language I was using at the time I wrote sister, so the differences are fairly stark.
This piece is broken up into three sections. The first section mainly deals with the struggle between the more stable, sturdy bassoon (and whatever instruments follow it at a given time) and the clarinet, which is longing for freedom (along with other instruments at different times). The bassoon is part of a steady rhythmic pulse, which the clarinet is the first to break free from. Other instruments follow the clarinet, but the bassoon always returns to lead the remaining instruments back into the steady, pulsing rhythm.
The second section focuses on a repeating idea in the vibraphone. The vibraphone's pitches never change, but the other instruments go through various melodic and harmonic ideas around the vibraphone.
The third section returns to a rhythmic pulse idea, but this time the pulse is more incessant and steady. This time, the trumpet is the first to attempt to break out, as if from inside a cell. The pulse breaks down a bit, and the clarinet and violin push out into the open. The violin introduces a new thematic idea which becomes the rhythmic and melodic structure for the other instruments in imitation, with some punctuations of chords similar to the beginning of this section. The quarter note pulse from the beginning of the section eventually returns, this time with a moving bass line and the violin fighting to escape. Finally, other voices take up the "escape" idea and straight quarter notes in succession, quickly building to a loud end.
This piece, written for an iteration of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat ensemble, was very loosely inspired by ideas from my miniature opera Brother Fire. Since Brother Fire's text is under copyright and the piece couldn't have much of a life past its first performance, I decided to build upon my favorite ideas in a new instrumental piece. Brother Fire's language is a bit simpler than the language I was using at the time I wrote sister, so the differences are fairly stark.
This piece is broken up into three sections. The first section mainly deals with the struggle between the more stable, sturdy bassoon (and whatever instruments follow it at a given time) and the clarinet, which is longing for freedom (along with other instruments at different times). The bassoon is part of a steady rhythmic pulse, which the clarinet is the first to break free from. Other instruments follow the clarinet, but the bassoon always returns to lead the remaining instruments back into the steady, pulsing rhythm.
The second section focuses on a repeating idea in the vibraphone. The vibraphone's pitches never change, but the other instruments go through various melodic and harmonic ideas around the vibraphone.
The third section returns to a rhythmic pulse idea, but this time the pulse is more incessant and steady. This time, the trumpet is the first to attempt to break out, as if from inside a cell. The pulse breaks down a bit, and the clarinet and violin push out into the open. The violin introduces a new thematic idea which becomes the rhythmic and melodic structure for the other instruments in imitation, with some punctuations of chords similar to the beginning of this section. The quarter note pulse from the beginning of the section eventually returns, this time with a moving bass line and the violin fighting to escape. Finally, other voices take up the "escape" idea and straight quarter notes in succession, quickly building to a loud end.