Ptelea

Notes

Ptelea, for bass clarinet, is an extension of my earlier vocal quintet, hamadryads, and, like that earlier piece, makes use in the generation of its pitch material of Josquin’s Déploration on the death of Johannes Ockeghem, Nymphes des bois. It follows Karya for Disklavier (2011), Syke for marimba and accordion (2013), and Balanos for organ and fixed media (2013) in a series of pieces taking Josquin’s lament as a starting point, each based on a particular ‘reading’ of the source text and taking the title of one of the eight types of hamadryad named in the Greek mythological tradition. Ptelea is named for the hamadryad who was bonded to the elm.

Ptelea was written for Heather Roche and lasts a little over seven minutes.