SMALL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE - SchiZm (1994) Program Notes
Adapted from a note by Michael Boriskin: Originally written for oboe and piano, transcribed by the composer for clarinet and piano, "SchiZm" is made up of two highly contrasting movements. The first, Field of Stars, is a short, eerily-still musical puzzle with a seemingly strong Middle-Eastern flavor. Three separate metric cycles (in the clarinet/oboe, the piano
left hand, and the piano right hand) come together every 60 beats and dictate the expansive harmonic structure. The second movement, "Puppet State," is lively and whimsical, in which a variety of genres -- an animated salsa, a languid habanera, and a sultry klezmer-tango -- are juxtaposed.