Score (pdf) 99 KB	Audio (m4a) 1.16 MB first movement only

 

Program Notes

Improbable Edges began as a brief counterpoint study, but by its end, it became something far larger and more meaningful. It is my first work in which the multiple movements do not connect. This was necessitated by practical reasons: each movement pairs the oboe with a different muted sound in the trombone, and the trombonist needs time to change mutes. These pauses are also valuable time for the players to rest.
x
I recently began thinking of sounds as aural “surfaces,” each with its own unique “edges.” It was this idea which inspired the work’s three contrasting moods. In the first movement, “jagged” edges are achieved through the use of half-step dissonances, with the timbre of the trombone straight mute adding to the music’s aggressive, biting qualities. “Soft” edges, in the second movement, arise from the combination of melodic solo passages and whole-step dissonances, with the trombone cup mute, veiled and somber. The third movement’s “feathered” edges are created by alternating quirky, lyrical music with outbursts from the trombone, filtered somewhat humorously through a harmon (“wah-wah”) mute.
x
The piece’s “improbability” comes from the tension created between opposites which repeatedly converge. Consequently, the trombone never gets to “be itself,” but is continuously changing character, adapting each time to the plaintive tone of the oboe. These shifts in personality are determined not only by the mute used, but also by the character of the music itself, which is at times aggressive, introspective, and playful.