Rituals: Sacred and Profane

Composer's Note:

Rituals: Sacred and Profane was composed for the Faculty Trio of Temple University, and first performed by that group in Philadelphia in 1996.  The piece is recorded on Naxos records  (9.70170) by the New York New Music Ensemble and on Ablaze Records (ar-00053) by the All of the Above Ensemble.

In this piece, the idea of ritual is the central impetus and the distinction between what are sacred and what are "profane" (or ordinary daily) rituals is less important that their shared properties of repetition and mutation. The initial gesture sets a frantic mood, led by the flute, with the cello and piano swirling around it.  A middle section ensues with greater calm, and uses a fragment of a Christmas hymn, twisted beyond recognition. By the final gesture, the three instruments have united into an ecstatic unison figure that rushes to the final cadence.