String Trio for Bill (2002)
Original Program Note:
String Trio for Bill was written in
March 2002, in Boston, after hearing that my good friend
Bill Dietz was planning on moving to Minnesota. The piece
is constructed in six (somewhat) contrasting movements, and
I was very much interested in how to achieve distinct
movements that nonetheless must form a single
piece.
I.
(Fantasia) is a
heterophonic exploration of unisons, octaves and their
“corona” (quarter-tone out). Additionally, it
serves as a kind of overture, tuning the ear to the mode of
listening for the rest of the work.
II.
(Tranquillo)
begins with a
somber meditation in unison before the viola disrupts the
texture with its sudden, violent, attacks, causing a
rupture that leads to harmony, the first pitches of which
spell “Dietz,
Bill.”
I use slow perceptual time and the unison to promote
sensitivity to the tone’s depth and
detail.
III. (Pesante)
opens with an
intense play in unison and keeps its energy throughout
until the transition into the fourth movement. Here we hear
the first hints of what I call the
“anti-Series,” a collection of dissonant
inflection tones proportional with the minor third to the
major third (6:5/5:4) for each multiple of the fundamental
frequency of the harmonic series.
IV. (Diminution) displays what I
call “Spatial Diminution.” This method simply
makes use of micro-tones to shrink the intervals of a line
in half, either in relation to their original starting
pitch, or with the interval from the lead voice halved to
begin with. The intention is to gain access to a delicate
"sameness."
V. (Scherzo) opens with
micro-heterophony derived from the theme of the waltz that
is to occur later. However, before the waltz is allowed to
make its full, startling impact, it is first given as
translated by Spatial Diminution (in which is buried a
reference to the key motive of the final
movement).
VI. (Synchronization) is a delicate
movement that attempts to reintegrate the piece after the
disintegration in the Scherzo. The players move in and out
of sync to produce rhythmic effects not otherwise possible
in another frame of mind. Many approaches are used for the
structuring of this movement, from different rates of tempo
flux, to separately repeating motives, to 6-part
improvisation (i.e., with voices) on explicitly indicated
pitches. As the viola began the piece, so it ends it as
well. This is a fitting close, for I find the viola is most
ready among the instruments to convey my most intimate
musical thoughts.
Listen to a
recording:
String Trio for
Bill (final)
Get the revised score here:
theStringTrioBill