Symphony of the Hawai‘i Forests: Reflections on Ka Wai Ke Kumu Ola (2023) Full orchestraToccata (2007)
for violin and piano
duration: 6 minutes
Listen:
Performers:
Score Excerpt: PDF
Perusal/Purchase: contact me
Program Notes
When beginning a new piece, I try to visually picture the performance with the performer(s) I have in mind of the hypothetical piece. I have found it helpful in trying to capture the general essence of the piece without having to think about the specifics of the music. When Jessica Tong asked me to write a piece, I immediately had images of her playing a highly virtuosic and athletic piece – certainly influenced by watching/listening to her play many times before – and with this general idea, I began to work on the piece quickly. The piece begins with a constant stream of 16th notes in the piano. The violin picks up certain notes from the piano and gradually spins it into a melody and brings it into prominence before taking over the 16th notes. The piece is in constant perpetual motion through the course of the entire piece and the intensity level is constantly on the rise with hardly any breaks in the middle, much to the distress of the violinist. Ideally, this piece will become part of a multi-movement violin sonata, but since the other movements do not yet exist, Toccata is written to be played on its own, at least for now.