Trio
Margaret Brouwer
About this work:
I. Joyful
II. Reverie
III. Escaping
Trio was written for the Verdehr Trio and commissioned by the Verdehr Trio and Michigan State University. Formal aspects of Trio (the movements’ forms and the use of pitches) were planned according to a formula of combining notes that was inspired by James Gleick’s book, Chaos. He writes that “the attracting pull of four points . . . creates basins of attractions. . . . But each particle does not move independently – its motion depends very much on the motion of its neighbors – and in a smooth flow, the degrees of freedom can be few.”
In addition, each movement represents an emotion or state of mind. In the first movement it is joy, with bright and glowing sounds that seem sometimes to dance. The second movement maintains a mood of calmness, stillness and sadness. The third movement is all about tension and anxiety. It begins with contrasting ideas of underlying nervous tension and brilliant, brittle outbursts that are passed around between the players. A middle section of strong rhythmic emphasis changes the nervousness into a focused energy.
Year composed: 2005
Duration: 00:12:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Piano Trio
Instrumentation: 1 Clarinet, 1 Piano, 1 Violin
Instrumentation notes: Bb Clarinet