Instrumentation: Trio for Piano, Flute, and Cello or Euphonium
Copyright: 1992
Duration: ca. 7 minutes
Range: D to b-flat-1 for euphonium or cello
Difficulty: III
Publisher: Nicolai Music
Price: $15
Other Info: Premiered in 1992 by Lynn Hizer (flute) and Neal Corwell during a Shepherd College Faculty Recital, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
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Twilight Dream is based upon the following short poem written by the composer:
Twilight Dream
light is fading, eyelids flicker and fall.
thoughts drift, unburdened by the weight of reality.
first, calm cool darkness, and then a sound,
the echo of an ancient lyrical chant.
the song fades, a vision appears,
an image of magical mystical dancers,
stomping and whirling, leaping and twirling,
propelling themselves, and the dreamer, into the darkness of night.
by Neal Corwell
The smooth melodic lines heard in the opening bars are representative of the "ancient lyrical chant" mentioned in the first stanza. The contrasting syncopated dance-like rhythms and choppy dissonant piano chords are symbolic of the "stomping and whirling, leaping and twirling" of the "magical mystical dancers." These two complementary musical ideas are first presented in opposition to one another, but by the end of the composition they are fused together to create a unified whole.