Three Moods
Trevor Weston
About this work:
Three Moods was commissioned by Robert Taylor and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Singers. I chose three poems by two friends who are both nationally published poets, Carol Ann Davis and Garrett Doherty. My music is often inspired by visual images transformed into musical textures or themes. In the poems Distal, Mirror Fugue, and Cenotaph, I was drawn to their beautiful language and the images they evoked. I was also moved by the intimate nature of the seemingly inner thoughts of each poem. Musically, the first and last "moods", Distal and Cenotaph, are connected by similar dream-like, objective, emotional environments supported by colorful, slowly shifting timbres and harmonies. Mirrors was created with a conscious concern for symmetry between musical lines and within musical sections. Mirrors also contrasts the intimate nature of the outer movements with pulsating rhythms and forceful sounds. As the central movement to the entire work, Mirrors "reflects" the emotions of the first movement into the last movement. Cenotaph mostly echoes Distal's colorful environment in a more pronounced dream-like state. The role of the last "mood" is to distill some of the musical material from the first two "moods" to create a feeling of closure.
Year composed: 2004
Duration: 00:15:00
Ensemble type: Chorus, with or without Solo Voices:Chorus with 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 S, 1 A, 1 T, 1 B