5•4•3 (except after C) for Trio d’Anches (oboe, clarinet, and bassoon)
PEN Trio Recital Performance, Arizona State University.

While in graduate school, I studied gamelan with the Indonesian master musician Sumarsam and became fascinated by the expressive possibilities of pentatonic (five-note) music. This work revisits an idea from an earlier composition that was built entirely from five pitches. The piece begins with a pentatonic scale that provides most of the musical material. As I composed, I adopted a simple rule: the music would remain pentatonic except when the note C appeared. Because C is not part of the original scale, its arrival allows the music to wander briefly into the full chromatic spectrum before returning to the pentatonic world. The title, 5:4:3 (except after C), reflects this idea. The work unfolds in five connected sections, with only occasional departures from its pentatonic foundation (the middle section is in C minor).
I. Freely, Quietly
II. Presto
III. Majestic
IV. Suspended, gently
V. Forceful, dynamic

My thanks to the musicians of the PEN Trio for commissioning and premiering this work. The score is available from TrevCo Music Publishing HERE