four poems
Andrea La Rose
About this work:
Jodi Marchowsky is a fellow Nashuan, a friend, a former housemate, and a poet. The poems are selected from her collection, Mudseason. I was the flutist in an ensemble performing Arnold Schoenberg's seminal work Pierrot Lunaire (1912), and decided that it would be a wonderful opportunity to write something for the same instrumentation. Each poem is a vivid character sketch: a snapshot of someone in a particular moment. I found the various combinations of personality and situation inherently musical. I sketched the vocal line for the last poem, "Quiet," first, while waiting in the laundromat. That melody became the material for all four movements.
Year composed: 1998
Duration: 00:12:00
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Voice with Chamber/Jazz Ensemble, 2-5 Players
Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Clarinet, 1 Piano, 1 Violin, 1 Cello, 1 Soprano
Instrumentation notes: clarinet doubles bass clarinet