downside-up for Clarinet and String Quartet (2009) - 5'
for Jonathan Hoffmann


Premiere: April 4, 2009 - Pitts/Hoffmann Honors Recital
Emory University
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Jonathan Hoffmann, Clarinet
The Vega String Quartet

Ordering Information

Program Notes:

            Today, optimism is one of the few human attributes that prevails in the midst of a world full of bad news.  I have learned that if I try to find the positive among all of the negatives, I have a greater sense of fulfillment. These enthusiastic ideas permeate my musical writings.
            downside-up was written as a musical outcry of "positivity."  It opens with the clarinet presenting the principal melodic figure while the strings introduce the basic harmonic pattern found throughout the piece.  After the brief introduction, the strings begin the canonic propulsion to the first melody.  From here, the driving rhythm and harmonic structure work in tandem to create a constant sense of forward motion and pulse.  Though the hierarchy of harmony, rhythm, and melody constantly alters throughout each section, they all eventually unite in the climax and final push to the end.

Performances of downside-up :

April 4, 2009 - Pitts/Hoffmann Honors Recital
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Emory University - Atlanta, Georgia
   Jonathan Hoffmann, Clarinet
   The Vega String Quartet