Unfoldings
Katharine O'Connell
About this work:
Unfoldings (2007)
This piece is dedicated to the Cleveland Duo and James Umble, who commissioned it as part of a concert of pieces by composers in Northeast Ohio. Their tremendous support of new music in the area and their high level of professional ability have been a source of inspiration for me.
The concept of the piece derives from several interpretations of the word “unfolding”: the different creases and colors in a piece of paper, the gradual opening of a flower, the way a story progresses in the telling. Though I began with these ideas for each movement, each developed its own abstract nature and the original concepts of the piece may or may not be apparent to the listener.
The first movement, origami, begins with a spare texture reminiscent of Japanese screen painting, with its muted color palette and clear, angular lines. It was inspired by a poem by Sylvia Plath, “The Moon and the Yew Tree,” where the moon illuminates the black lines of an evergreen on a bleak winter night. The mood of the music gradually changes, or unfolds, into a more tonal feeling section, which I liken to the unfolding of origami paper, which is often printed with a different pattern on each side. As the paper is turned or unfolded, new designs or colors show, much the way the varying styles of music in this movement surface and return as the movement progresses. Much of the movement is in the saxophone’s highest range to showcase James Umble’s spectacular control and timbre in the notoriously difficult upper register of the instrument.
The second movement, rose, is about the unfolding of a flower from a tight bud to an open flower. The piano texture in the beginning comes from clusters of notes which gradually expand to include the entire range of the instrument. The low notes of the opening melody in the saxophone also expand into its upper range, and the full range of the violin is featured as well. Each instrument has a solo passage, most notably in the saxophone and violin, before the many textures and gestures in the piece are reconfigured in the recapitulation of the movement’s opening. This movement is more tonal than the others evoking the delicacy and sweetness of the rose itself.
The final movement, telling, comes from a book I read by Ruby Payne, a sociologist, about class and cultural distinctions in America, and the misunderstandings that can result when people of varying backgrounds attempt to communicate. One thing that particularly interested me was the very different ways people relate events. The storytelling concept traditionally taught in school is that of beginning calmly, building to a climactic event, and then finishing. However, the book reminds us that this is actually only one way people recount events, and that in many classes and cultures in American life, the concept is completely different. Often, for maximum dramatic effect, the person will start with the climactic event (“I just got hit by a car!) and then proceed to fill in the details once they hold the audience’s attention. I was fascinated by the idea of beginning with the climax of the movement and then building the piece from there, letting the movement/story “unfold” from there. The movement became a study in perpetual motion, starting loudly and dramatically and never relaxing. The movement may not unfold the way a story might, but I enjoyed composing in a new mold, and creating the rhythmic drive that brings the piece to its breathless conclusion.
Version: sax, violin, piano
Year composed: 2007
Duration: 00:11:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation: 1 Alto Saxophone, 1 Piano, 1 Violin