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Despite our
differences
#2
for piano & chamber orchestra (1988)
Composer Facsimile Edition, 10 minutes
Despite our differences
#2 is a percussive,
fast-paced movement for piano and chamber orchestra. It was written for the Pro Arte
Chamber Orchestra of Cambridge, Massachusetts and premiered
there at Sanders Theater in 1988 with Randall Hodgkinson,
pianist, and David Hoose, conductor. In 1990 the piece
was performed by the Memphis Chamber Symphony Orchestra
under Charles Evans with Kelly DeVuyst, pianist.
Like Despite our differences
#1 for piano trio, this piece contrasts the chordal and
percussive qualities of the piano with the legato and lyric
qualities of melodic instruments, in this case winds as well
as strings. The differences become increasingly blurred
as the piece progresses. In addition, another element
is introduced: the rich tradition of the American spiritual.
Portions of several spirituals
("Walk together children," "Give me your hand," and "Sometimes
I feel like a motherless child") recur in the orchestra throughout
the piece. Although the soloist finally and exuberantly
joins the orchestral unisons near the end, the piece fades away
on a question mark as the strings sustain an unresolved dominant
underneath a rather wistful repetition of a fragment of the tune.
See
score sample below.
To
order the score: elizvercoe@yahoo.com
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Randall Hodgkinson
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