three minute chaconne
Duration ca. 3' (2011)
Solo Violin, Solo Viola, or Solo Violoncello
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Commissioned by the Johansen International Competition for Young String Players.
Premiered at the competition by approximately 30 finalists, March 22-23, 2012, Washington, D.C.
Other performances: Ismael Guerrero, cello, Baltimore, MD, July 15, 2020; Shen Tzu-Yu, viola, Shanghai, China, February 17, 2012; Jung Min Choi, violin, Philadelphia, PA, March 13, 2012; Santiago Canon Valencia, cello, Auckland, New Zealand, May 6, 2012, Peter Minkler, viola, Bethesda, MD, October 22, 2012.
Program note
Lately, my compositional output has consisted of larger works such as concerti and oratorios. When asked by the Friday Morning Music Club to compose a work for the 2012 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players, I was intrigued by their request to keep the piece “within three minutes,” a consistent requirement in the previous commissions for this competition. As a composer, this presented me with a particular challenge of being extremely brief and concise.
It seemed to me that I should focus on a small amount of material and develop it rapidly. Luckily, there was a prototype for such a form: a chaconne (a form utilized commonly in the Baroque era where a composer repeats continual variations upon a harmonic progression). The brief melodic theme of the chaconne is presented in the beginning with its long arching lines. Immediately following are five variations separated only by slight pauses. The first variation is brooding, the second is a bit more kinetic, the third utilizes harmonics (very light ethereal tones), the fourth variation builds energy in a fast tempo, and the fifth explodes in double stops (multiple pitches played at once on the instrument). The chaconne concludes triumphantly harkening back to the opening material.