For Unaccompanied Solo Cello
prel·ude – noun; an action or event serving as an introduction to something more important.
al·le·mand – adjective; French translation: German; Germanic.
cou·rant – adjective; represented as running.
This piece began as an exercise in serial composition and quickly snowballed into a serial movement with two bookending minimalist movements. The titles of each of these movements came about when discussing the baroque dance suite in an English Baroque Music course at Pomona. I had the realization that, while what I have written is nothing close to resembling a baroque dance suite, the meanings of the individual dances I chose actually have a very strong connection to the ways these movements were written. The first movement, Prelude, is an introductory movement, calm and meditative with a simple, slow moving harmony. The second movement, Allemande, is a serial movement, written in a style reflecting that of Arnold Schoenberg and his students in the Second Viennese School (hence Allemande, as this movement is a reference to 20thcentury Germanic composers). The third movement, Courante, is a depiction of someone going out for a short run. I use extended techniques in this movement to depict the act of stretching before a jog, and also to depict catching your breath and finally collapsing into a seat after a jog.
This piece is dedicated to Connor Reilly, who gave me the inspiration for the piece, and continues to inspire me to write music every day.
OLIVER DUBON 