Gemini for flute, cello & piano
The title of this trio for flute, cello, and piano reflects the interconnected binary nature of the piece. The music begins slowly and deliberately, in a musical language which is tense and expressionistic. This slow music is neither completed nor is it entirely interrupted by the fast music which follows; rather, there is a pause in its formal unfolding. The fast music is highly syncopated and its harmonic language less angular (it is tonally-centered in C). As this section progresses, suggestions of the slow music are heard until the climax of the fast music actually brings a further unfolding of the opening material. This return functions more as a continuation of the slow music rather than a recapitulation, as if, over the course of the fast music, the slow music had been striving to re-emerge, with an intention to complete itself. But again and as before, this more somber music loses its power and instead Gemini closes with a final burst of energy derived from the fast music.
Gemini was commissioned by the Iowa Music Teachers Association and composed in the winter/spring of 1996 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It was premiered at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, at the IMTA’s Annual Convention in June, 1996, by Janet Stodd, flute; Gregory Sauer, cello; and Thomas Sauer, piano. It is featured on IonSound Project’s 2011 CD of my music, with Peggy Yoo, flute; Elisa Kohanski, cello; and Rob Frankenberry, piano.
- Instrumentation:
- flute, cello, piano
- Date completed:
- 1996
- Duration:
- ca. 9:00
- Audio:
Gemini
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