and the Leaves of Falling Darkness - Violin, Clarinet, and Piano

1 score and 2 parts

Each player is introduced alone to showcase the elements of the cycle to come: the common shapes of the daytime still familiar yet oddly twisted as night comes on. The overlapping of the three instruments creates a sense at once inexorable and frenetic, as of forest life rushing to shelter as the sun goes down.

The phrases lengthen as the nights grow longer, the twilight an echo of autumn colors as the piece settles into winter and the nightfall of the year. The rush of dusk slows, the hues of sunset coming earlier and lasting longer before sinking into a languorous harmony of the three instruments, anchoring the piece for a moment in the stillness of a winter night without stars. The principle theme returns more urgently, first in the violin, then in the clarinet, then together as the piano continues to provide the impression of mottled light which defines the deeper shadows cast by the other players. The energy builds to the very end, each element climbing higher up its range, leaving the listener perched once again for an inevitable descent.

Program note by Walter Jordan