Tuppenny Pieces

Composer's Note:

Composed for Shizuka (Sam Kelder and Hanna Nicholas, violists) as a companion pairing to my much earlier Music for Two Violas (1993), Tuppenny Pieces re-explores the genre with two trifles (or “pennies”)—a brief Ache and the contrasting Sensing Lightness. These bagatelles aspire to move around some small but hopefully striking motives and materials—first in an expressive adagio, and second in a light andantino alluding to standing meditation (Qi Gong style; noticing how breath might “float” the body).

In 2019, composer Andrew List initiated a larger repertory project by inviting Shizuka to premiere an array of new viola duets by Boston-area composers. Tuppenny Pieces was premiered at that time, and Sam and Anna Griffis offered a new rendition of the piece on the occasion of Ludovico Ensemble’s 20th Anniversary in May 2023.