Bittersweet

About

Love and longing can be bittersweet. This particular quality is expressed in the piece through the use of “wrong” (bitter) notes within the extended tonal (sweet) harmonies. Bittersweet is composed in A-B-A-coda form. The A section features energetic pulsing rhythms in 7/8 time signature. The B section is more contemplative in tone, featuring the piano as soloist. The reprise of the first section leads to a boisterous climax, after which the gentle coda brings us down to earth, acting perhaps as a slightly quizzical look back at events.

The original version of this piece for 14 instruments was composed in response to the second call for scores in early 2018 from La Belle Musique, Singapore for their program ‘Love and Longing’. This version for sextet of alto saxophone, vibraphone, piano, violin, cello and double bass was completed in December 2019.