Single Malt (2015)
Form: Orchestral Instrumentation: vlns I, vlns II, vlas, vcls, db. Year: 2015 Duration: 7 min. Premiere: Moscow
Single-movement work for string orchestra, commissioned by Martin Anderson for Toccata Classics, and in memory of his partner, Yodit.
Program Notes
Hodie tibi, cras mihi
Single Malt, scored for string orchestra, was commissioned in 2015 by Martin Anderson in memory of his partner, Yodit. Cast in a single movement, the piece is more or less in two parts. The first, marked by an aggressive intro which, after some contrapuntal tossing of themes across the strings, settles on a series of chords which can only be characterized as unsettled. Divided violins later introduce a diatonic melody of an aching tenderness, and the section reintroduces segments of music heard in the piece’s first half. After an isolated solo violin intones the slow theme, the piece ends on a muted, divided chord. The young work has enjoyed several performances in the US, Russia and at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, where Misha Rachlevsky has led the Russian String Orchestra.
The piece is dedicated to Martin Anderson, in friendship, and in memory of Yodit.
