Allen Shawn

Violin and Piano

Composer's Note:

"Romances" was written in Winter 1996 at Yaddo artist colony. It was dedicated to Jamaica Kincaid (to whom I was married from 1979-until 2001). It is a single movement piece lasting fourteen minutes, in three distinct sections (slow-fast-slow) that could be viewed as three aspects of a love relationship, three romances, one romance interrupted by another--or, if one prefers, simply as a piece of music. The three part form is not a traditional "ABA" structure, but is a progression. The music of the first section is like a long rhapsodic Aria, full of youthful longing and ardor. In the middle section one might hear adventure, dialogue, and quarrels. The music of the final pages is not a return to the beginning, but has a more intimate, searching, resigned and mature character.