I. qn = 104 - score preview
II. freely, qn = 60 - score preview
III. qn = 132 - score preview
Duration: 11'
In my compositional life, I find that there are similar patterns which inform my creative process. I suspect that this may be the case with many creative artists. These patterns do not necessarily have anything to do with the actual music I compose. I try to always push my musical ideas in different directions depending upon the project I’m working on. This is one of the most important ways that any composer grows artistically. Rather than any actual musical ideas, the repeating patterns I am speaking about have more to do with how I initially approach any new work.
Typically, there are three things that are in place before I write my first note. The first is most often a commission by performers or conductors for a new piece. This is the impetus for the whole project. Second, I often have a programmatic idea that I wish to explore in the composition. This idea is either given to me by those who commissioned the work (which is always the case, for example, with choreographers and film directors) or an idea of my own. Given this, it’s also not uncommon for me to already have a title for the piece before any music is written. Finally, I am also usually given a specific instrumentation for which to compose.
In Three for 5, these items were not in place. The piece is not a commission. I am breaking my own cardinal rule here. I usually never compose without a commission. I have found over the years that composer-initiated projects are never embraced quite as enthusiastically by performers as those projects that are generated by the performers themselves. Instead of receiving a commission, I reached out to my wonderfully talented colleagues at the Georgia State University School of Music and asked if they would be interested in a piece that would be premiered at the annual fall faculty recital. I was very relieved to learn that they were excited to collaborate with me on this project! This piece also has no program attached to it. This in and of itself differentiates the piece from much of my music. Even the title is a whimsical reflection of the abstract nature of the work. This is simply a composition in three short contrasting movements for five individual performers. Finally, instead of being given an instrumentation, I chose to write for a somewhat non-standard ensemble consisting of flute, oboe, horn, bassoon, and piano. The substitution of a piano for a clarinet (which, if had been used instead of piano would have made the ensemble a standard woodwind quintet) is another way that this piece deviates from my familiar patterns. As a somewhat nerdy aside, I also chose to challenge myself a bit by composing the work in a completely new notation software platform, something I have not done in over 30 years!
If this piece is “about” anything at all, I suppose it is about being open to change. There is a sense of lightness and optimism in the music which reflects my emergence out of four very hard years of grieving over the death of my wife. I will always carry the scars of my grief with me just as I will always carry and cherish the memories of my past life. Now, however, I have embarked by necessity upon a new life and with it, a new love, a new outlook, and a new pathway forward.