Last Words of a Hunger Artist (After Kafka)
Gregg Wramage
About this work:
Recipient of the 2000 Delius Festival Composition Contest Chamber Music Award. Published by the composer. For further information about this work, please contact Gregg Wramage at: gwramage@hotmail.com, 718-238-9485, 28 Marine Ave., Apt. 5H, Brooklyn, NY, 11209. Program note: The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic materials in this piece are derived from three main sources, each of which is presented by a different member of the trio. The first is a quasi-recitative, repeated-note theme, played near the beginning by the violin. This is followed by a four measure phrase of a chorale, played by the piano directly after the opening violin solo. The third idea, an ascending scalar melody, is introduced several minutes into the piece at the first entrance of the clarinet. These three
ideas are developed, varied and transformed throughout the approximately ten minute duration of the piece. A slow tempo prevails throughout most of the music except for the climactic central passage of the work, which is at a faster tempo, arrived at through a metric modulation. “Last Words of a Hunger Artist” was composed between August and December of 1999, after reading Franz Kafka’s short story, "A Hunger Artist".
Year composed: 1999
Duration: 00:10:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Other Combinations, 2-5 players
Instrumentation: 1 Clarinet, 1 Piano, 1 Violin