[vln, cl, pno]
Timing: 11’15”
Program note:
A trio for violin, clarinet, and piano, Frisson is a one movement work that progresses through many smaller sections of varying tempos, colors, and rhythmic ideas. Three markings in the score indicate the general development of the music: Mysterious, intense; Introspective; Letting go, sense of release.
Often, the instruments play in multiple tempos simultaneously, creating an ambiguous sense of pulse and meter. The rhythmic structure of the piece is based on composite cross rhythms which gives the music a more tentative, unsettled feeling. However, the climax of the work provides the dramatic excitement that is the title’s reference; a frisson is a “brief intense reaction, usually a feeling of excitement, recognition, or terror, accompanied by a physical shudder or thrill.”
The piece was composed while in residence at Centrum in Port Townsend, Washington, an artist retreat on the Washington peninsula near the San Juan Islands.
Commissioned by the Verdehr Trio and Michigan State University.
Available from Woodyard Music Publishing:
Performances:
October 21, 2007 Verdehr Trio The Phillips Collection / Washington, DC