Daniel Weymouth's in (all) the time we have left

Abstract

Daniel Weymouth's in (all) the time we have left Sunny Knable (bio) What shall we do with the time we have leftShall we talk of countries and kingsshall we see the small thingsthis, then this, then thisunfolding. A bove are the words written after the final bars of Daniel Weymouth's 2008 quintet for clarinet and string quartet, in (all) the time we have left [referred to as in (all) the time hereafter], which read like a psalm for the 21st Century. This inscription, written by the composer, silently marks the end of an homage to Weymouth's colleague at Stony Brook University, John Lessard, a composer who passed away in 2003. Weymouth's quintet explicitly quotes Lessard's Quintet for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Violoncello and Piano (1993) and borrows key elements from it throughout his own composition. The efficacy of Weymouth's elegiac work lies in the kindred relationship between the two pieces, as this paper will demonstrate through an analysis pertaining to form, texture, register, pitch, rhythm and other particular characteristics of in (all) the time.1 [End Page 129] By his own admission, Weymouth often begins his compositional process by creating a map of salient pitches, and in the case of in (all) the time, had done precompositional work mapping out his intended timbres and textures as well. Charting the formal sections is as simple as taking note of those elements, in addition to double bar lines, which the composer uses to mark the change of character. Searching for these demarcations yields the form shown in Example 1. While Weymouth is traditional in his willingness to use clear-cut sections and repeated material, he avoids any resemblance to classical forms by utilizing a linear progression of ABCDE. An intriguing aspect of in (all) the time is that it is accompanied with a "bonus track" as Weymouth whimsically calls it: a miniature piano solo entitled A Trifle, for Jack (referred to as A Trifle), which is both a complement to his quintet and a condensation of it. Its existence constitutes a useful tool when beginning an analysis of the larger composition. Comparing the material in Weymouth's A Trifle to his quintet was like searching for gold with a treasure-map. Many elements of pitch-class are plainly apparent, others are hidden, and some are seemingly nonexistent. In the twelve-measure piece, there is a Click for larger view View full resolution Example 1. delineations of form in weymouth's in (all) the time [End Page 130] correspondence to nearly every section of its larger counterpart (see Example 2). A straightforward link between the two can be seen in comparing the opening phrases. The first four notes of A Trifle are found in all voices of the strings in m. 2 of the quintet (Example 3). Other associations are more elusive such as in mm. 104–06 of in (all) the time, corresponding to m. 6 of A Trifle. Though the pitches are rearranged and interjected with other pitches, the range and recurrence of material makes the connection evident (Example 4). Whereas most of the pitches in A Trifle can be accounted for, between mm. 8–9 of A Trifle, about 100 measures in the quintet are not reflected in the miniature. This could be attributed to the fact that the C section functions like a distillation from non-coordinated textures in the A/B sections to the coordinated gestures in the D/E sections, as explored later in this paper's analysis of rhythm. Click for larger view View full resolution Example 2. comparing weymouth's a trifle to in (all) the time [End Page 131] Click for larger view View full resolution Example 3. notes of m. 1 of a trifle found in m. 2 in (all) the time [End Page 132] Click for larger view View full resolution Example 4. notes of m. 6 of a trifle found in m. 105 of in (all) the time [End Page 133] Another characteristic marking the form is the use of tempi. An odd element among these is the difference in his metronome markings, strangely close in number. As seen in Example 5...