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Untitled Composition (1988) |
clarinet, cello, piano - 8'
This is a composition with two versions - one for clarinet and piano, and one for clarinet and cello with the piano entering at the end . It has a simple ABA structure, starting with energetic music that is rather fierce and atonal, leading directly into music of long lines - the cello making a broken unison with the clarinet. Gradually, both parts become fragmented and the music breaks down - only the cello is left holding a long Eb. Two 'bird cries'herald the middle section. Here, the angular melodies and rhythms build up, wide leaps between the different registers of the instruments grow wider, and the clarinet features even more insistently its 'bird calls'. All this leads to the main climax of the work, followed by a direct recapitulation of the opening material. This time, however, as the music begins to peter out, a new idea is introduced, a distant sounding ostinato and it is these rather mysterious sounds that finish the work.
© Diana Burrell