Program note
PEAL, written for the Da Capo Chamber Players in 2000, is an energetic piece in variation form. It moves from tension and release through a frozen middle to a violent climax from which it cannot recover.
The piece is built entirely on a two-voice canon by inversion. The time interval between the voices shifts continually, giving rhythmic variety; the axis of symmetry shifts from section to section, giving each section its own harmonic world. The energetic theme leads to a first variation in off-beats, accelerations and suspensions, with the theme itself quietly sung in the piano. The theme then returns and disintegrates — the varied theme passing to the winds — settling into a frozen quiet.
The music begins again on slow trills; a long accelerando erupts into a new raw melody high in the winds, while the original theme provides a savage accompaniment in the strings and piano.
After this variation, fragments of the theme return in mensuration canons, but the melody cannot restate itself after the intensity of what preceded. The piece closes gently on groups of symmetrical sonorities.
Recording ⸺ Da Capo Chamber Players
Details
Instrumentation
Pierrot quintet: flute, clarinet, violin, cello, & piano
Duration
11'
Date
2000
Sheet music
Available upon request
Commissioned by
Da Capo Chamber Players, New York, NY
Recording
Lost Dog New Music Ensemble
Chamber Music of Philippe Bodin
First performance
Da Capo Chamber Players
New York, NY, June 2000
Prizes
Winner - 2001 Music of Changes Competition (USA)
Winner - 2006 Utah Arts Festival Chamber Ensemble Commission
Winner - 2006 Brave New Works Call for Scores (USA)
Winner - 2006 Asia Pacific Festival Call for Scores (New Zealand)
Finalist - 2008 Random Access Music Call for Scores (USA)
Winner - 2019 Black Dot Publishing Call for Scores (UK)