Title: Tethered Within
Instrumentation: octet (alto flute, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello
Duration: 05:45
Year Composed: 2013
Instrumentation: octet (alto flute, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, 2 violins, viola, cello
Duration: 05:45
Year Composed: 2013
Program Note:
As the title of the piece suggests, in writing this work I was searching for a music that would sonically represent the turmoil that exists when one repeatedly attempts to break past a threshold or a tether that is causing physical or psychological restriction. The piece is filled with small, tense motives (such as the exasperated waving motion in the flute and clarinet that begins the work, or the fast staccato rhythms in the upper strings). The musical lines desire to break away from their restraints, but rather, the music is violently halted by silences and abruptly sprung back to more incessant material. The final attempt to break away occurs towards the end of the piece as the strings transcend into a more lyrical music, but once again this is cut off and eventually only a noise loop remains.
Tethered Within was written for the 2013 New Fromm Players of the Tanglewood Music Center as part of the "Composer as Conductor" workshop.