33 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
33 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Conversations
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slug: conversations
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instrumentation: For two violins.
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date: 2017-06-01
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categories:
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- Chamber
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---
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This work was written for Jocelyn Zhu and Mariella Haubs in commemoration of their _Concerts for Compassion_ Tour,
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Summer 2017. They premiered the work at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, New York, NY, on April 3, 2019.
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It was subsequently performed on WQXR's _Young Artist Showcase_.
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This piece depicts a conversation between two people: they meet, argue, come to an agreement, and then part.
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These four events are split across two movements.
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In the first movement, we begin with their greetings. Each violinist trades the main theme,
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and they then develop it and chase it into new variations and ideas, reaching an exciting climax
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which restates the very beginning music. However, conflict immediate follows: a bickering scherzo
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in which the two cannot agree on what the harmony or rhythm should be. At times the argument is
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bitter and coarse, and at others more light-hearted and playful.
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In the end, though, they remain in total disagreement.
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After this heated conflict, the second movement begins with the two violinists pouring out their anguish
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in loud dissonances. After calming down, each tells a variation on a sad story: a long, lonely theme
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accompanied by constant pizzicato. A chorale briefly appears: they reconcile their sadness and pray together.
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Once reconciled, they engage in a break-neck fugue of "civilized discourse".
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They work out their argument in a disciplined, diplomatic fashion, finally reaching an agreement.
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They join together in celebration, playing the harmonies that began the first movement and staying
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in unison rhythm for nearly the rest of the piece.
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Finally, as in all conversations, the two must part ways. It is lonely and bittersweet, and we are left wondering why.
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