Distant Mirrors —1985

Distant Mirrors was composed for Marc Teicholz and Ken Freed when we were all students at Yale University.

Movements

  1. Heu Fortuna Subdula
  2. Feverish Gigue
  3. Dithyrambe

Program Notes

Distant Mirrors is a collection of three dances, which echo the music of the distant past in a more contemporary langage. The first movement follows a quasi-rondeau outline, while the gigue is a simple ternary form. A dithyrambe is a song in honor of the Greek god Dionysus; as such, it is free and passionate. The title refers Barbara Tuchman’s powerful book A Distant Mirror, which I was reading for an undergraduate course in 14th Century music when I was writing this piece.

Reviews

Despite its surface buoyancy, there was a tragic undercurrent, which was moving.

Philip Greene, New Haven Register, April 16, 1986