Year composed: 2021
Duration: 7′
Instrumentation: string trio (violin, viola, cello)
Commissioned by the No Exit Ensemble for The Collective and premiered at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, 5/12/2022
Notes:
Blackwork and Scarletwork were types of embroidery common in the Renaissance, especially in Spain. They were used to decorate fine clothing with counted black or red thread stitching on white fabric. The repeating sequences in my string trio were inspired by how these geometric and floral patterns could be used to build up wonderfully complex yet unified and coherent designs.
The violin and viola play throughout in a very light, off-the-string ‘leggiero’ manner, while the cello has an expressive, lyrical solo inflected with different timbres ranging from sul ponticello (near the bridge), sul tasto (on the fingerboard), and strong overbowing (pressing very hard with the bow while moving it slowly). The music is full of grace note embellishments and accentuations; I used three types of jeté (bounced) bowing–a thrown bow in the usual manner, a dropped bow without any horizontal motion, and a dropped col legno (with the wood) bounced bow. The piece is dedicated to the No Exit Ensemble, who gave the premiere.
–Cindy Cox