Fading Gestures
for Clarinet and Piano
This piece is about 16 minutes long, in 4 movements. Fading Gestures is an exploration of companionship, resilience, and musical contrast. The piece opens as the clarinet greets a troubled piano, subsequently joining it in a search for optimism and cheer. Across four distinct movements, the duo searches high and low, with the piano constantly challenging the clarinet to venture in new directions. Unafraid to follow, the clarinet never abandons its companion.
Consequently, each movement presents a stark stylistic contrast:
• I. Greeting: An expressive impromptu that establishes the initial dialogue between the instruments.
• II. In the Shadows: A darker movement that borrows heavily from serialism and twelve-tone techniques.
• III. Dance: A whimsical, lop-sided waltz that plays with asymmetric rhythm.
• IV. Finale: A vibrant closing movement incorporating structural components of traditional Indian music.
While these four musical styles are worlds apart, they are bound together by core thematic material that transforms to fit the landscape of each new sonic world.