Melodrama

Duration: 7'

Program Note: Melodrama is a piece adapted from a short opera I composed for myself (a soprano) and a small ensemble to perform. I had always intended on adapting some of the material for instrumental chamber music. Now, the dramatic impulses of the story by Alize Rosznyai remain tethered to the music. Yet, I was able to exaggerate each dramatic gesture with the agile facility and extreme range of the clarinet. The result is a dramatic, episodic piece with a strong internal narrative and intensity. The clarinet’s lines are completely embodied, since I generated each phrase by improvising with the opera’s libretto, then further refined each line while performing the role in the opera. 

The piece moves through an arioso mad-scene. First, the fantasy-world is broken through by some annoying twitch, at which point the harmony is corrupted. The protagonist attempts to numb herself, but the annoying twitch returns. Further attempts fail in catastrophic outburst.