Sirens

Sirens was composed for the In Freundschaft Duo (Steve Parker, trombone, and Jason Calloway, cello). Music is sometimes used to warn, alarm or entice humans. The mythical Sirens of the Odyssey lured sailors to their death with the beauty or intoxicating quality of the sounds the sirens created. Sirens used by law enforcement also have the understood purpose of affecting humans with arresting sounds. The cello and the trombone can create very rich warm sounds and very poignant, biting timbres. The work opens with blending lines and gestures between the instruments demonstrating their similarities. As the piece progresses, the two instruments eventually separate into more contrasting idiomatic musical sections. Each instrument has cadenza-like melodic sirens section before the piece ends. The coda makes references to New Orleans Jazz, another musical form used to entice people to act. In the case of New Orleans Jazz, the music forced people to dance and follow the band through the town as the second line.

The In Freundschaft Duo at the College of Charleston