Pregnant Pauses
Faye-Ellen1 Silverman
About this work:
Once I got the title, the rest began to fall into place. ”Pregnant Pauses” is in three short movements. Although the title instantly seemed right, the more I thought about it, the more I liked its implications for the composition. I had started to work with brief silences in my last several works - something pointed out to me by a visiting friend and former student, Sara, who felt that I used silence effectively in my last choral piece. The impetus behind this probably goes back to a comment that my former teacher, Otto Luening, made after hearing some of my works shortly before he died in 1996. He criticized me for not letting my work breathe. So I began to think about pacing - and of using a pause (a silence), sometimes as a way of allowing for something new to happen. That is why the silence is "pregnant" with expectation. The tricky part is the right length of pause. Too little, and it seems accidental. Too much, and one loses the audience. I use the term to mean (Oxford English dictionary) "Of words, symbolic acts, etc.: Full of meaning, highly significant; containing a hidden sense, implying more than is obvious, suggestive; also, full of, replete with (something significant)".
The first movement makes extensive use of the opening chord – meant to replicate the full sound of flamenco guitar. The opening melody (stated in measure 5) – EFAFE – provides the basis this and for the other two movements. It also returns in a direct restatement at the end of the movement, but at a tempo anticipating movement 2. The opening of the second movement is a slight expansion of this theme, but at a slower pace. Using variations on this material, It shows off the beautiful melodic qualities of the guitars. The third movement follows directly from the second movement. It begins with the pitches C D Eb D – a modification of the main theme of movement 1. It is meant to show off the virtuosic playing of the Danish Corona Quartet, for whom this piece was written. It ends with references to movements 1 and 2, both in melodic material and in tempi. The work moves from the opening of E (movement 1) to an ending on A.
Year composed: 2005
Duration: 00:09:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Guitar Ensembles
Instrumentation: 4 Guitar (Classical/Acoustic)