"Mixed Meters"

Trio for Oboe, English Horn, and Piano

Electronic demo here

One day, I sat down at my computer thinking about writing another oboe and orchestra piece. What ended up happening was the completion of a duet concertino type work that sounded better when the two solo instruments performed it with a piano instead of an orchestra. Go figure!

In all seriousness, I had wanted to write an unusual melody, something that would make people look at us and say "what? wait a minute here!" I'm sure that listening to the alternating time signatures in the songs written by the rock band Rush had quite a bit to do with it also.

Most people, when they hear the title of this work, seem to think that I am stressing rhythm over lyricism. This, however, is far from the case. Mixed Meters is a lyrical work in First Movement Sonata form. Despite my emphasis on lyricism, the time signatures change after almost every measure and range from 5/8 to 4/4 (including measures marked in 8/8 to set them apart from the duple feeling of the standard common time). The first theme is in a combination of 6/8 and 7/8 and the second theme alternates from 3/4 to 3/8..

Mixed Meters was premiered in April of 1998 by my studio mate Kaylin Sanderl, myself, and Crane School adjunct professor Dr. Stephen Johnson, playing oboe, English horn, and piano respectively. It has since been performed in a variety of venues by a number of different musicians.

Scores

Mixed Meters

Set of parts (PDFs) - $10