Year composed: 1996
Duration: 14′
Instrumentation: flute, clarinet, cello, percussion, piano
Movements:
I. Spiky
II. Sparkling
III. Fast
Commissioned by the Earplay Ensemble and premiered at the Yerba Buena Forum in San Francisco. Recorded on Columba aspexit album (Anthology of Recorded Music Inc.)
Notes:
Geode is made up of three movements, with a middle movement about twice as long as the outer ones. The title refers to the character of the second movement, which is marked “sparkling”, and its high register and bright quality made me think of the hidden crystals inside a geode. The outer movements frame the second with sharp contrasts, and share many formal parallels. They feature the bass clarinet as a prominent soloist, while movement two belongs to the cello. This work was commissioned by the Earplay Ensemble, and is dedicated to them.