Remnants of Nine

Description

Flute, Piccolo, Clarinet in Bb, Violin, Cello, Percussion — Remnants of Ninecontains a playful mix of motor rhythms, pedal points, big boomy piano and percussion noises, and some tone-row theory. The source material for the piece is a fourteen-chord row of all major or minor triads (thus giving the piece a modal sound). The work begins with a slow introduction in which several melodies are stated as well as fragments of the chord row. After a brief pause, the work jumps to a fast tempo and shows off its themes and row via a mixture of pedal point sections and orchestrally altered versions of the chord row. The piece feverishly spins forward at full tilt through a maze of short, linked sections until it blazes its brightest in a no-holds-barred ending.