Cantilena

From the composer: “As its name suggests, Cantilena is all about singing, lyric lines. It’s a songlike dialogue, with contrasting tempi. While melodies are hardly foreign to either instrument, the viola-in the chamber literature and especially the symphonic literature-has had a surfeit of accompanimental, supporting figures. This unthrilling role is kept to a bare minimum in Cantilena. I tried to create a genuine duo, a give-and-take aural relationship between two beautiful instruments that rarely have the whole stage to themselves.” Cantilena was commissioned by flutist Sally Schlichting and was premiered by her and violist Sam Williams in November 2005.