Capriccio cavato (2011-12)
clarinet, marimba, violin, cello - 4'
I had the pleasure of working with Glen Adsit and Carrie Koffman in Hartford, Connecticut for a number of years. They are both fine musicians, excellent teachers and colleagues, and champions of new music. They both helped me grow as a musician and composer and afforded me a number of great opportunities. This piece is, of (see below) and for them, and a token of my appreciation for those shared experiences.
I use the term capriccio in the sense of the visual art practice made famous by Canaletto in the 18th century, loosely defined as an imaginary landscape painting or etching based on found (often familiar) material. In this case, the “landscape” is the piece and the “found” material is derived from works in which I performed that Glen directed.
The piece is carved, cavato, both thematically and structurally: the main theme and key scheme are built from Glen Adsit’s name: g-sharp minor, e minor., and later: a minor, d minor. The contrasting sections at measures 53 and 126 are similarly structured both locally (in terms of chords: C Major, a minor, e minor) and structurally (in terms of key areas: C Major, A Major) from Carrie’s name. The final section of the piece, at measure 153, is where the names (and musical materials) combine in e-flat minor (the “s” Glen’s last name read as e-flat, and the “e” from Carrie’s name flatted to balanced the g-sharp of the opening tonality).
I had the pleasure of working with Glen Adsit and Carrie Koffman in Hartford, Connecticut for a number of years. They are both fine musicians, excellent teachers and colleagues, and champions of new music. They both helped me grow as a musician and composer and afforded me a number of great opportunities. This piece is, of (see below) and for them, and a token of my appreciation for those shared experiences.
I use the term capriccio in the sense of the visual art practice made famous by Canaletto in the 18th century, loosely defined as an imaginary landscape painting or etching based on found (often familiar) material. In this case, the “landscape” is the piece and the “found” material is derived from works in which I performed that Glen directed.
The piece is carved, cavato, both thematically and structurally: the main theme and key scheme are built from Glen Adsit’s name: g-sharp minor, e minor., and later: a minor, d minor. The contrasting sections at measures 53 and 126 are similarly structured both locally (in terms of chords: C Major, a minor, e minor) and structurally (in terms of key areas: C Major, A Major) from Carrie’s name. The final section of the piece, at measure 153, is where the names (and musical materials) combine in e-flat minor (the “s” Glen’s last name read as e-flat, and the “e” from Carrie’s name flatted to balanced the g-sharp of the opening tonality).
