Denouement (2022)
A short, somewhat conceptual chamber work for clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and piano.
All stories have endings. Even if the ending is chaotic, ambiguous, or uncertain—it is still an end. Any feelings of irresolution are deliberate, perhaps even the point.
Real-life endings are never so tidy. Friendships dwindle with distance and time; breakups are complex and drawn out; closure is illusory. Even in death, departed souls reappear in memories, photographs, and dreams. Everything continues in small, unexpected ways.
“Denouement” begins at the tail end of the climax. But I wanted to write a real ending, not a storybook one. Musicians finish playing, only to start again. Thematic material stops too soon, or overstays its welcome. New ideas get introduced far too late. Such an arrangement may lack a certain satisfaction, but only if you expect your endings to actually end.