Program note

Boiling Point gradually assembles a texture as sparse seemingly random pizzicato notes condense into a rocking groove in C minor. Soon, short motivic fragments begin to rise out of the rhythmic strong points of the groove.

From these fragments grow longer, even higher melodies. The piece grows organically from a groove into a rich, beautifully contrapuntal slow movement, which in turn begins to sound more and more in B-flat minor. The pizzicato notes that started the process seem to fade into the background, while still affecting the harmony in subtle ways.

After the climax in B-flat minor, the piece begins winding down. A groove similar to the low opening one develops in the upper register of the first violin, and finally the second violin enunciates the product of the whole piece: a long, lyrical melody in B-flat minor. Meanwhile, the viola and cello are still playing pizzicato in C minor, their attacks less and less frequent, yet never without significance.

The whole process resembles that of water slowly coming to a boil. The pizzicato notes almost sound like the first bubbles beginning to pop, and the lyrical lines evoke the more consistent flow of steam.

Awards

Winner of the 2008 Left Coast Chamber Ensemble composition contest.

Performances

June 2007, pPremiered at Buckley Recital Hall, Amherst College, Yellow Barn Young Artists’ Program.

April 2, 2009, at Throckmorton, Mill Valley, California, and on April 6, 2009, at the Green Room, San Francisco, Boiling Point (the 2008 winner of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble Composition Competition) will receive its West Coast premiere by the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble.