Year composed: 2009 (movement 3 in 2014)
Duration: 8′
Instrumentation: piano trio (violin, cello, piano)
Movements:
I. Quietly urgent
II. Periodic, hypnotic, with a regular pulse like a heartbeat
III. Forceful, punchy
Notes:
The movements in Wave take the shape of an ever-increasing, oceanic-like wave form. The first movement is constructed around a small circular scalar fragment; the harmony gradually takes shape in a revolving motion above and below the central melody and builds into large complexes of sonorities. The pianist catches the lowest octave in the Sostenuto (middle) pedal and those pitches resonate freely. The second movement, the central pillar of the work, beats a periodic heart-motive with a melodic idea winding in and out, repeating over and over in different regions of the piano toward a large climax. The last movement spins itself out starting at the bottom register and relentlessly climbs to the top.
Wave was written for the Trio 180, and is dedicated, with gratitude, to them.
Premiered at Old First Concert Series, San Francisco, January 2010