Twelve Days in Five Minutes

Shock – anger – anxiety – panic – resignation – exhaustion

Full Score

Twelve Days in Five Minutes - Perusal Score.pdf

Listener's Notes

This piece was provoked by a two-week period in 1987, when a random cluster of sad and tragic events affected some of my close friends and colleagues, all in their mid- twenties. These ranged from the simple loss of a favorite pet, to the collapse of a marriage, to a terrible accident resulting in death. Every other day seemed to bring a new catastrophe that left others hurt and me unscathed – but not unaffected.

First performed December 11, 1987 at the 9th concert of The Composers’ Cafeteria at the Eighth Street Studio, Berkeley, CA.

Instrumentation

Clarinet
Trombone
Violin
Cello

Composerish Stuff and Other Details

In addition to the sad circumstances that prompted this work, there was a practical aspect too: I had committed to perform a piece at the December (1987) Composers' Cafeteria concert, and while I had a piece in progress, I couldn't pull together the ensemble I needed to perform it. So I had to pivot and write something for the ensemble I had. With the feelings of shock and frustration all around, it was a motivation to write quickly - I think I finished the piece in a few days. In rehearsal, we found that we couldn't play the piece through more than two or three times, because we were just too exhausted at the end. I've always considered this a mark of success.

I've made a few small changes to dynamics in this score, but otherwise the piece is still in its original form.

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