Compositions

Stories have always been a vital part of my life and approach to my art. There is magic in finding a start at point A, charting a course to point B, but ending up at point Z. And the skill of crafting such a journey as a writer or composer holds an irresistible mystique. Ironically this was not what I had planned to do when I started writing Short Story! The fifth Bach Suite as my inspiration, I knew I wanted to incorporate a few of its elements that I found compositionally exciting: the emotionally fraught introduction, the Picardy third, and the uncharacteristically stark Sarabande. I also knew I wanted to incorporate idiomatic cello techniques that are fun and satisfying to play. Beyond those, I had to slowly discover its direction.

The first movement, Introduction, is just that - a setting of the stage of a conflict, specifically the angsty vacillation between C minor and C Major 7 chords. It is improvisatory and unsure, emotional and searching. 

Obstacle, the second movement, is based on the concept that every story must have one to feel that progress has been made. The 5th Suite's Courante was the inspiration for the character of the opening, and I wanted to provide the simple main theme with some crunchy harmonic contrast. Such chord textures are very fun to roar out on a cello, and to my delight I found a home for the Picardy third.

Reflection is quite literally a reflection of the introduction, recontextualizing the opening theme in that aforementioned stark sarabande style. It is also an emotional reflection, like a lonely walk with only one's own thoughts. I was particularly stirred by Tortelier's description of Bach's Sarabande as "an extension of silence." Reflection's departure from C minor to G minor is another clue that we are already changed by the journey.

Discovery is the joyous finding of one's self and celebration of having traveled so far. Finally, we arrive at C Major, a resolution of the Introduction's conflict, and the crunchy harmonies are replaced with open strings and wide open sounds. I especially took advantage in this movement of the fun techniques one can only execute on a cello, such as left hand pizzicato and specially patterned runs. I don't think it is much of a coincidence that the darker movements were written during the long Berlin winter, and the last when Spring finally arrived.