Details
Year: 2022
Duration: 7'
Instrumentation: violin or viola or English horn/oboe and piano
Premiere: 10 March, 2024, Hunter J. Smith Auditorium, The Center at Belvedere by Alexander Chang and Matthew Hodge
Details
Year: 2022
Duration: 7'
Instrumentation: violin or viola or English horn/oboe and piano
Premiere: 10 March, 2024, Hunter J. Smith Auditorium, The Center at Belvedere by Alexander Chang and Matthew Hodge
Two Night Pieces (2022)
Program Notes
2 Night Pieces is made up of two movements—Nocturne and Lullaby—that I originally wrote as entirely separate pieces. The Nocturne was written in a little more than an hour in late May, 2022, and was inspired in part by Lili Boulanger's Deux Morceaux pour Violin et Piano. This movement captures a restless night. It is slow and melancholic, characterized by a minor key and a deliberate avoidance of perfect cadences.
In stark contrast, the Lullaby, which I wrote first, is light and peaceful, beginning as a solo piano piece after I studied Chopin's Berceuse. Desiring to expand its melodic elements, I introduced the violin to carry the melody. I worked on it in the car on my way to my weekly viola/violin lessons. I finished it over the month of April and early May. The Lullaby, with its rocking motion and major key tonality is delicate and charming, alternating between the tension and resolution of V and I, in stark contrast to the Nocturne. It builds to a climax as if the baby has fallen asleep and is dreaming, then fades away to the end.
The juxtaposition of the two movements is striking. The Nocturne, slow and sad, stands in stark contrast to the Lullaby's faster, happier demeanor. The first movement's use of the lower register of the violin is contrasted with its higher register in the second movement. Yet, despite their differences, they form a cohesive narrative. Praised as having "harmonic inventiveness," the Nocturne explores the expressive possibilities of the violin, while the Lullaby has been described as a "lovely, delicate lullaby," emphasizing the tender interaction possible between the violin and piano.
2 Night Pieces made it to the finals in the 2022/23 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Junior Composition Competition. In May 2023, the version for English horn/oboe and piano of 2 Night Pieces was published by Hodge Products Inc., and in October 2024 it was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Along with the violin version of this piece there is also a version for viola and piano. When listening, pay attention to the way the two movement interact and how they contrast from one another.