Pas de Deux
Joel Phillip Friedman
About this work:
First Performance (unrevised version) February 26, 1995,
Kathryn Bache Miller Theatre, New York
Maria Kitsopoulos, cello; Allison Voth, piano
Recorded (revised version) by: Fred Sherry, cello; Stephen Gosling, piano
Duration: ca. 20 minutes
Pas de Deux
Cello and Piano
Program Note
Pas de Deux was commissioned by dear friends Pamela and Stephen Dillon as a surprise Stephen's fortieth birthday. Over the course of numerous conversations with Pam it became clear to me that she had very concrete ideas for the piece. Pam wanted to somehow describe the course of an intimate relationship in ways that would be both specific to the two of them and universal to all. Knowing the special closeness that exists between Pam and Steve, and their strong personalities, the title Pas de Deux immediately came to mind. Rarely does one meet two people who are so joyfully intertwined in their daily existence and yet manage to keep their individuality. Pam's aphoristic writings provided a distinctive framework that made the process of composing this piece akin to text-setting. The work is in four sections: I. Prologue; II. Youth; III. The Limits of Life, a. Dialogue and b. How Time Ends; and IV. Pas de Deux.
During this past year (2001), so full of unusually intense emotional experiences, I decided to revisit Pas de Deux as I felt that the original work implied much more than it actually explored. What I didn’t expect was that the piece would to take on a life of its own, expanding by almost half its original length. In particular, the middle section, written throughout the late summer and fall of 2001 took on a much darker hue.
One of music’s greatest strengths is its ability to seem to be both concrete and ephemeral in its meaning at the same moment. I will leave it to the listeners to find for themselves how the program is realized in the music and who, or what, the various instruments, gestures, or sections could represent.
Version: Revised 2002
Year composed: 1995
Duration: 00:20:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Keyboard plus One Instrument
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, 1 Cello