Fragmentations

Fragmentations is a musical journey from a fragmentary pointillist texture to lyrical lines; but attempts at reaching a lyrical resolution are thwarted.

The first movement, recitative, focuses on short dramatic gestures and ends with an evocation of confusion. The second movement, dialogue, transforms these into questioning between instruments; the third, arioso, appears to achieve lyricism, but is rudely interrupted by fragmentary gestures from the violin and piano. The fourth movement is a fugue, but just when it appears to be moving towards the final climax it descends again into an evocation of confusion. The final movement, standing apart from the previous four, is a lament for having failed in the quest to piece together the fragments.