Commence

Commence was written for a Spring 2025 reading with members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In the piece's first movement, a wandering, intimate melody is first presented by the viola and then in three alternate versions, each concluding with a short outburst. The third of these outbursts proceeds directly into the second movement, in which tense, dancelike material seems to always be beginning new but related episodes. A lyrical section recalls the first movement and provides some relief from this growing tension, and while the answering dance seems to grind to a halt, the ensemble begins yet another episode that fades away as if nothing of note had ever happened... or ever will.