Title: A second chandelier falls through clouded sulfur skies

I. die Wassermelone
II. “This episode brought to you by pants!”
III. “You put them on your bottom.”
IV. argle-arglebargle
V. …BETWEENELLIPSES!!!… … … .

Completion date: October 2013
Instrumentation: Pierrot ensemble – flute, clarinet in Bb (+bass), violin, cello, piano, percussion
Duration: 11’00”-12’00”
Premiered:

Recorded 2013 11 25 by Jessica Fulkerson, Amy Advocat, Lilit Hartunian, Nicole Cariglia, Valerie Ross, John Andress
Premiered 2014 03 28 by Talea Ensemble at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Program Notes:

One night riding through a starry wood, I chanced upon an elder tree.

It knew of you, and its rustling leaves spoke silently of thee.

Then in golden glow upon its iron bark, the following words appeared:

“A bunch of stuff happens and then it’s the end.”

And such is all I know, my dear, of what befell that first chandelier.

Score: A second chandelier […] – score
Recording: The following recording is from the 2013 11 25 session.

Personal Notes:

In my first year at Brandeis I studied composition privately with Eric Chasalow. During this time I could tell that I was gaining a greater command of craft, but also felt more and more bored by the music I was writing, and therefore grew more and more frustrated with myself. The summer following (summer 2013), I started this piece and suddenly something clicked – everything seemed to fall into place and not only did I realize how much Eric had really taught me, I figured out how to apply those principles in ways that were interesting to me.

My personal favorite parts of this piece are the end of the bass clarinet solo (measure 134-147), the chord on beat 3 of measure 177, the G# in the piano right hand in measures 202-3, and measures 247-249. On the negative side, I feel that some elements of the first and second movements are somewhat weak, most notably the very opening, the transition into the end of the first movement, and some of the wind/string lines in the second movement during the piano/percussion-heavy sections.