QUINT
(2001)
Duration: 7′
Description
for five players
flute (= piccolo), clarinet in Bb (= Eb clarinet), percussion (1 player), violin, cello
First performance: 24 March 2001, Brunel Ensemble, cond: Christopher Austin/St.Georges, Brandon Hill, Bristol, UK
Listen to an extract below, performed by the London Sinfonietta.
Quint
Reviews
“Lloyd Moore’s ultra-articulate quintet ‘Quint’, simply couldn’t be held back.“
(Paul Driver, Tempo)
“…a joyful, playful prestissimo, which seemed downright cheerful and which closed pointedly and effectively.“
(Nikolaus Cybinski, Basellandschaftliche Zeitung)
“Lloyd Moore conducted his ‘Quint’ … a vivacious, accessible (but not simplistic) moto perpetuo which got the proceedings off to a good start.“
(Peter Grahame Woolf, MusicWeb International.com)
Programme Note
The first concrete musical idea I had for this piece was a very simple one: the interval of a perfect fifth, A-E. I then decided to employ the three ‘black’ notes contained within that interval (B flat, D flat, E flat) to form a five-note motivic cell that furnishes the melodic and harmonic content of the entire piece.
The black-note/white-note harmonic ambiguity that results drives the piece forward in a restless moto perpetuo, beginning somewhat hesitantly, but gradually becoming more decisive before flaring up towards the end in a passage of barely contained violence.