Gilbert Galindo

Viola and Piano

Composer's Note:
After having performed my piano quartet and string quartet in Random Access Music around 2015, Liuh-Wen Ting asked me to write a viola piece for her, utilizing the lyrical viola writing found in those works. I wanted to make this piece special and took my time with it as there was no set performance date and wrote the work from the fall of 2017 to the end of 2018, with other works being written and a move back to NYC having occurred during that time.
I constantly assess and reflect on my music and this piece is the realization of my reflections. The work contains lyrical passages with extended jazz-inspired harmonies in the first movement. The second movement utilizes mixed driving pulses and tunes, fragmented or fully realized. The interlude is what I like to describe as abstract nostalgia, chords that float in a soundscape and that can evoke sentiments within the listener. And the final movement is - as it seems to me - an organic development out of what occurred before: a heartfelt song for viola.