Music That Ends
for chamber orchestra
 
Duration:  approx. 7 minutes
 
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of the score in .ETF (Finale) format.
 
 
Performance History:
     The title Music That Ends is meant to be an irreverent indication of the work's
essentially non-programmatic nature although it also refers to its highly sectional
aspect.  Set in a traditional rondo form (ABACA), each section is different enough
from the last that it may clearly be seen to come to an 'end' before the next
begins.  The links between sections are formed in their underlying material rather
than in elision or transition from one to the next.  This fundamental material
revolves around the resolution of a perfect fourth inward to a minor third, although
the word 'resolution' implies a strict hierarchy of dissonance-consonance which
Music That Ends treats with deliberate ambiguity.  The primary purpose of the
opening section (A) is to expose this material in its most basic chordal form and
to establish a more complex harmonic language by layering several of the
fundamental 4th-3rd cells on top of eachother.  After building to a climax and a
clear 'end' the next section (B) initiates a fundamental change in character from
the dark, chordal texture of the opening to a brighter, more melodic treatment of
the harmony characterised by arabesque-like passages in the woodwinds and a
prominent rapidly undulating accompanying figure in the strings.  After another
climax and a series of brief cadenza-like passages in the strings there is a return
to the opening (A) material, now dominated by a woodwind tremolo figure
reminiscent of the B section's undulating accompanying figure.  This soon gives
way to another section (C) which is characterised by a bolero-like ostinato in the
low strings over which is heard a pair of melodies derived from the octatonic
scale in solo winds.  These melodies later combine to reveal a series of
consecutive 4th-3rd cells at various transpositions.  After once again building to a
climax the opening material (A) appears for the last time, in a highly truncated
form which gradually dissipates creating the final 'end' of a series of 'ends'.
 
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