Instrumentation:

• violin — viola

Duration: 14:00

First Performance: —

Dedication: “for Julie and Jake”

Program Note:

• Three Pieces for violin and viola was written in the fall and winter of 2023/24 in Los Angeles, California, as a gift for my friends Julie and Jake, on the occasion of their wedding.

  The first movement, Allegro con brio is in a loose sonata form, featuring a broad romantic theme in the violin over a rolling viola eighth note accompaniment. The development is a bit faster and transforms the violin theme into something more akin to a dance tune. The second movement, Vivace is a rollicking jumble of angular off-beat rhythms contrasted with short segments of lyricism. It is meant to be played as fast as possible and to me it represents a playful argument between the two instruments. The third movement, Lento, ma con moto is essentially a song. The violin alone plays a spacious, slow melody over nine measures before the viola has its turn, the violin supplying an accompaniment. The middle section is more turbulent, with a motif from the first movement making an appearance, and then the song is heard again in both instruments in turn with more varied accompaniment.