cComposer: York, Barbara
Instrumentation: Solo and Piano Instruments: Euphonium, Piano
Genre: Contemporary
with Piano
In four movements and subtitled "Creative States", this concerto will allow the audience's imagination run wild as the performer paints the picture:
- Wonder
- Emptiness
III. Emptiness
- Joy
This piece was commissioned by:
Amy Schumaker Bliss
Lauren Veronie Curran
Jonathan Helmick
Jamie Lipton
Gail Robertson
Travis Scott
Evagene Wellman
I tend to think that the subtitle and movement titles of this piece should be fairly self explanatory. However, after thinking about it a bit I realized that perhaps there is room for at least a little elaboration. This piece is about states that I (and you?) can put myself in when I have little or no inspiration for a piece. In that sense, it was a bit of a joke on myself as I was writing this concerto. I have always claimed that there is plenty of human and personal subject matter about which to write, so this is about what one can do when not feeling particularly inspired.
Three of the movements are states of childlike awareness - Wonder, Playfulness and Joy. The second movement is more of a meditative state, Emptiness, and is musically reflective of the piano "Gymnopedies" of Erik Satie. To me, it is a zen like emptying of oneself, creating a mental and emotional vacuum into which inspiration can enter. What is not mentioned here is that deadlines can also be a powerful impetus towards creativity for composers and other artists. Deadlines are the most terrifying, but often the most effective.
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