Circa

CIRCA was commissioned in 1996 for American Baroque as part of the Common Sense Composers’ Collective Third Annual Collaboration Project. I chose CIRCA as its title for a number of reasons. First, the term, circa, literally means ‘around’. In Early Music circles, this term is often used because the exact dates of many compositions are not known. In my piece, I use this title to refer to the way the opening weaves its harmonic and motivic structure around the entire body of the work. It acts as a nebulous ‘musical cloud’, from which the subsequent sections derive both their harmonic and melodic structures. The title also alludes to how the opening affects the overall structure of the piece, by returning in an altered form to complete the work. Special thanks goes to American Baroque for their invaluable input in creating this piece.

For baroque flute, violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord
Commissioned by American Baroque in collaboration with Common Sense;
Premiered April 1996 - San Francisco, CA;
Recorded on SHOCK OF THE OLD - Santa Fe New Music