Five Miniatures (2019)

For Chamber Orchestra

Instrumentation: 2 Flutes, 2 Bb Clarinet (doubling on Clarinet in A), Bass Clarinet, 2 Bb Trumpet, 2 F Horn, Trombone, Bass Trombone, 3 Percussion, Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass

Difficulty: Medium Advanced

Duration: 9’30”

Performance Materials: $80.00

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Five Miniatures for Chamber Orchestra is the closest I have gotten to minimalism thus far in my career. Each movement (no more than 3 and a half minutes in length) was an attempt to make the most out of very little material. The first, “Pulse” is based around a recurrent hemiola eighth note pulse with simple diatonic melodies and colorful orchestration. The second, “Breathe” is simply a chord progression enlivened by overlapping the harmonies between different sections. The third, “Revel” uses virtually only two main ideas; a recurrent melody in natural minor and brass interjections based around every note of the pentatonic scale sounded at once. The result is something that almost sounds like it could play at a nightclub. Movement four, “Rest” is a transcription of a vocal piece I wrote last year based on the Robert Frost poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” (The vocal version will never see the light of day, as I’ve learned that the Frost estate is generally hesitant to allow settings of his poems to music. I think it works better in this setting anyway!) The fifth and final movement is called “Synecdoche";” a figure of speech in which a part of something is used to refer to the whole. Elements from every movement appear in the final one; a bass clarinet ostinato from one, a chord progression from two, rhythmic gestures from three, and expansion of the opening phrase from four. There is hardly anything heard for the first time in movement five; it is a patchwork of what came before.