for Flute, Bb Clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello

or

for Eb Clarinet, Bb Clarinet, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello

I composed Night Music for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, a mixed chamber ensemble of strings, winds,
piano, and percussion. At the time, my compositional style was changing rapidly, and I had not yet worked out an
effective way to manage mixed-instrument ensembles in my new harmonic language. Without a satisfying solution to
the problem, I chose to work outside the parameters – rather than compose a piece of chamber music, in which each
instrument is given a role of roughly equal importance, why not highlight the imbalance of the ensemble? The
resulting piece plays out hierarchical tensions among the instruments.
Throughout the piece, the strings form a background layer, dutifully and gloomily playing an unending
ostinato pattern. On top of this bed of sound, I composed virtuosic duos for the piano+percussion and two
woodwinds. These duo passages highlight the wealth of color and technical dexterity of these instruments, in contrast
with the subdued string writing. As the piece progresses, the strings seem to become more determined to burst
through to the foreground, eventually culminating in coup, as the violinist forcefully takes her place at center stage.

Digital download includes score and parts for both version with flute and version with Eb clarinet.