Through the Mist
Pamela J. Marshall
About this work:
An impressionisticly modern piece influenced by the sonorities of the
classical guitar and images of a New Hampshire lake. Three movements:
1. Ashuelot Sunrise - Allegretto
2. Rocky Shore - Andante arpeggiato
3. Nocturne - Andante sonore
The first movement, marked Allegretto, is rhapsodic with layered melodies. Shifting rhythms and rubato keep the music from settling into a regular pulse. The phrases become more complex and build to a climax in a tonal center of D. A transition takes the music to a sort-of coda in which the rhythm becomes more regular and the harmonies clearly move from A back to D minor.
The second movement, Andante arpeggiato, is more austere and hesitant, with minor seconds and a knocking motive, which builds to the hammered octaves at the climax.
The third movement, Andante sonore, begins with the sound of a romantic, tropical song. An interlude follows where the woodwinds sing and the violins rhapsodize on over a F# pedalpoint. The opening melody returns, hauntingly. The movement finally settles into the implied opening key of E minor with rhythmic references to the knocking motive of the second movement.
Selected for the Women's Philharmonic reading sessions in New York City in 1999.
Also available as a trio for flute, violin and guitar.
Performance materials available for rental from Spindrift Music Company (www.spindrift.com).
Version: orchestra
Year composed: 1998
Duration: 00:12:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 2 Flute, 2 Oboe, 2 Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 2 Horn in F, 2 Trumpet, 2 Trombone, 1 Timpani, 2 Percussion (General), 1 Strings (General), 1 Harp
Instrumentation notes: 2nd flute doubles piccolo
Percussion includes suspended cymbal, tamborine, wood block, bass drum, marimba, triangle, castanets, 2 tom toms