flute, clarinet, and piano
15’30”
composed 2002
composed for and premiered by The Delicato Ensemble (Bloomington, Indiana)
Composer’s Note
When I was first approached to write this piece by flutist John Rush, I was asked to write a trio in the form of a "romantic sonata". What exactly made a sonata "romantic" or not was unclear to me - later on I would find out that the term was simply a descriptive one that my friend John had used, with no definite form implied. Nonetheless, the idea had been placed in my mind - regardless of how I was to write the work, I could not shake the idea of a “romantic sonata.” The end result of this thought process is that the style of the two outer movements borrow greatly from earlier music, particularly from the late classical and early romantic eras; the style of the contrasting middle movement is anything but romantic.
This contrast of tradition vs. non-tradition is the main idea of this work. Classical textures (Alberti bass) and forms are juxtaposed against aleatoric passages. Diatonic melodies quickly shift to atonality and back. Harmonies begin quite stable, only to be completely turned on their side by unexpected transitions.
The rather unique title to this work likewise contrasts two unlike objects against one another. Both the pocket knife and the paper football represent childhood toys: one violent, the other playful. This title is not programmatic, but rather representative of the juxtaposition of uncommon elements in a common realm.