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Etudes for Chamber Ensemble  (2010)

12min

 

Flute, Oboe, 2 Violins, Viola, Cello, Bass

 

  • Premiere: February 28, 2010, Delta Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon/Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Symphony

 

1. Introduction

2. Song

3. Rondo

 

A musician is, to varying degree, a public figure, subject like all to public scrutiny in the form of the review.  Sometimes, this published critique can be less than flattering.

 

In one particular instance, when a review added a little extra panache to their dis-approval of my music, I wanted to react defensively, but realized an argument of words would be useless, and perhaps much more damaging.  Instead, I decided to compose a piece of music in reflection of the experience, allowing the critic to be my teacher.  These etudes are that piece.  The etude nature of this collection is of both compositional and performance purpose.   In composition, it is a study of attrition, and using minimal materials, focusing on pentatonoic scales.  For the performers, it offers interesting metric challenges, from freely improvised, to complexly structured.

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