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Lachrymose (8') 2006
solo piccolo
written for Chenoa Anderson
dedicated to Debbie Smythe
Score Sample PDF - (opens in new window)
Sample Audio - Derek Charke (opens in new window)
Lachrymose was written in December of 2006. Because this piece is elegaic I wanted to invoke a feeling of space. Some of the work uses proportional notation, allowing the perfomer room to play with the temporal domains. A consistant arch-like shape is reiterated during the last 2/3rds of the work, a swelling and dying away followed by several seconds of silence. Within this the performer repeats a fast three note gesture a random number of times. A sung pitch adds a counterpoint to this ostinato figure. Although the material is somewhat minimal several advanced techniques are employed that help "fill out" the sound of the solo piccolo. The most obvious is singing and playing. Added to this the soloist is asked near the end to break the sound and play on the harmonics. This creates a rich texture filled with overtones. The entire range of the piccolo is called for, however throughout most of the work the performer plays in the lower tessitura, creating a more earthy sound. Double trills and timbre trills create a warbling, bird like effect in other parts of the work.