Gathering, for clarinet, violin, viola, and cello (original version)

Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello (original version)

20:20- 3 Movements

The three movements of Gathering are 'gathered' together by means of an essential bass line that moves downward by half step with each new movement. In the first movement, an insistent underlying tone anchors and eventually pulls down the lines rising above it. The second movement is full of rhythmic and metrical diversity, with outer sections alternating between an asymmetrical meter (12 345) and a chorale-style passage. A distinct middle section plays with the accent tension between 3/4 and 6/8 (12 23 56 vs. 123 456), sometimes one after the other, sometimes simultaneously. The third movement draws on traditional tonality as a way to establish a sense of both unresolved longing and of remembrance. A later version of the first movement of Gathering was made for the Telos Consort (soprano and alto saxophones, violin, and cello)