Christopher M. Wicks
Duo for violin and cello (2002)
Christopher M. Wicks is an organist and composer living in Oregon's Willamette Valley. He holds a M.Mus. in Composition from the Universite de Montreal and a M.Mus. in Organ from the University of Oregon, and, did undergraduate work at no fewer than six colleges, including Marylhurst University and the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, New York). Christopher's compositions have been performed throughout the United States and in Europe, and he has released two CDs, one of him performing original organ music, and one of chamber compositions for harp and violin.
For the piece on this concert the composer observes, "My Duo for violin and cello, composed in 2002, is in three movements, each rhythmically fairly traditional, but with shifting modes in the scalar motions in each instrument. The second movement is centered on the tone E, with a sense of minor or Dorian mode much of the time, and the third movement has passages with a persistent pedal tone of D in one instrument, while the other plays improvisatory-sounding roulades."