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An Other I
2005
solo violin
3 flutes 2º & 3 doubling piccolo
2 oboes
2 clarinets 2º doubling clarinet in Eb and clarinet in A
2 bassoons 2º doubling contrabassoon
4 horns
2 trumpets
3 trombones
2 percussion
1: crotales, glockenspiel, slapstick, tam-tam, vibraphone
2: bass drum, chimes, chinese cymbal, crotales, gong (F), triangle
strings
duration 22'
commissioned by The New England Philharmonic
first performance:
Danielle Maddon with The New England Philharmonic, cond. Richard Pittman
Tsai Performance Center, Boston / February 26, 2005
SCORE
Movement 1
Movement 2
RECORDING—May 2012 performance by Danielle Maddon with the New England Phiharmonic
PROGRAM NOTE
An Other I is a work concerned with reconciling, or at least recognizing, opposites and dualities. The solo violin’s role is often that of ringleader; new material heard in the solo part is gradually picked up by the orchestra, and this is how the form unfolds.
The opening presents five isolated ideas; a widely spaced chord; trills followed by a woodwind roulade; overlapping horns; staccato oboe; and chromatic trumpet runs. These little components act emblematically as they are recombined in many ways throughout the first half of the movement, usually unchanged except through repetition. The solo violin—bit by bit—introduces a continuous 6/8 melody which the orchestra takes up, and so changes the direction of the music.
The second movement is made of two distinct types of material: A slow, repeating figure over dark circling harmonies; and rapid, high, overlapping music for woodwinds and solo violin. These two types of music alternate, becoming shorter on each iteration. In addition the slow music gets faster and higher as the movement proceeds, moving from woodwinds to violins. Eventually the alternation is harder and harder to perceive and the two types of music merge into one. This leads into the solo violin’s cadenza which itself alternates between extremely high speedy passages and low quarter-tone double-stopped heavy glissandi. Again these two ideas are compressed as they continue, until they too merge.
Lastly, there are two rich influences on the making of An Other I. The first is the ease of creating complex juxtapositions with computer software. The second is the brightness and elasticity of Danielle Maddon’s playing, along with a conversation she and I had about my plans for this work in which she told me about the mockingbirds in her garden, and how the male will continue singing borrowed songs until he finds a mate; something which echoed my plans for this music. These two things—cut and paste for the form, and tireless obsessive repeated birdsong for the trajectory in the cadenza—provide the underpinnings of the piece.