Chamber Suite (2023)
for clarinets, bassoon, tuba, piano, percussion, violin, cello, and double bass (30′)
Chamber Suite, which I started in the summer of 2022, was the capstone piece to my composition degree at the University of Georgia. The suite is composed of eight movements for an unusual ensemble of eight players.
The eight movements are:
I. Canon 1
II. Walking Limp
III. Radiant Light
IV. Canon 2 (Partita)
V. Agitation
VI. A Trifle
VII. Contrapalooza
VII. Canon 3
The piece is bookended by canons based on the same quartal material. A truncated version of the canon also recurs as a middle movement, functioning as a sort of musical palette cleanser. There is a kind of musical joke with the canons: the two outer movements are two-voice canons for four instruments, while the middle movement is a three-voice canon for one instrument.
The remaining movements run the gamut from slow and heavy (Radiant Light, the longest movement) to short and light (A Trifle, the shortest). I intended for each movement to work as a standalone piece while also fitting together into something larger than the sum of its parts.
Sam Hoyland 