The Summer Triangle

for clarinet, violin and piano (2015)

The Summer Triangle is a portrait of my stay in the Utah desert as represented by the nightly procession of a seasonal asterism. The five movements of the piece, played together without pause, reflect on individual aspects as well as more general sentiments experienced during that time.

I. The Veneer of Spring

II. Isosceles

III. Dry Heat

IV. Five by Three

V. Au Revoir, Aquila. The stars of the Summer Triangle, the asterism, are the brightest in their respective constellations: Vega in Lyra the lyre, Deneb in Cygnus the swan, and Altair in Aquila the eagle. Altair is the last of the three stars to arrive in May and also the first to depart from view in October. As Aquila carries it over the Western horizon, the trio is disbanded for the winter. Similarly, the music of the final movement gradually dissolves, recalling textures and fragments of melody from the previous four movements as it recedes.