Berceuse (2021)
For violin and piano
Duration: 9 minutes
Commissioned by Emily Popham Gillins
World premiere: March 14, 2021
Soapbox Gallery, Brooklyn (livestream)
Emily Popham Gillins, violin
Jonathan Howard Katz, piano
This work is available for retail purchase from Theodore Front Musical Literature.
This work is available for institutional purchase from Harrassowitz (OttoEditions) and Theodore Front Musical Literature.
To purchase a PDF of this score to perform from a tablet, please click here.
This was an unusual case for me of a “melody searching for a piece.” What became the most distinct theme of this work, and what suggested its title, first came to me on its own over a year ago, without context or instrumentation. I eventually decided it should be for violin and piano and began to conceive of a work in which the theme arises several times in response to more turbulent material.
I’m grateful to Emily Popham Gillins, who has been a friend and musical colleague since our undergraduate days, for taking on the commission and premiere of this work, and for those who supported the commission.