Instrumentation: unaccompanied violin
Score Example: The Magician
Duration: 14:00
Commissioned by Andrzej Grabiec, former concertmaster of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and professor of violin at Wichita State University.
Premiered at Boston Conservatory of Music; Boston, Massachusetts; January 27, 1990.
Movements:
I. Invocation
II. Shenanigans
III. Whirlwind
Recording: Laura Hammes Black, Wichita State University Contemporary Music Festival, 1992. Used by permission.
Notes: Andrezej Grabiec commissioned this piece after performing my string quintet, Two Visions from the Center, in 1986. The project seemed daunting to me at the time, due to the knowledge of string technique required by such a piece and the compositional problems of writing for an unaccompanied single-line instrument. Mr. Grabiec’s appointment as concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra spurred me into action, however, and The Magician was the result. Several aspects of Mr. Grabiec’s personality found their way into the writing, especially in the second movement, Shenanigans, which was inspired by his sense of humor and playfulness.
Katherine Ann Murdock 