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Tashi

Instrumentation
Cl,Vn,Vc,Pf
Year
1975
Duration
30:30

TASHI was composed in during 1975 for the ensemble of the same name who premiered the work the following year. The work exists in two versions, chamber -- being heard this evening -- and a version for the four soloists and orchestra (the TASHI ensemble premiered this version with the Cleveland Orchestra - also in 1976 - under the composers’ baton). TASHI is approximately 32 minutes divided into three large movements punctuated by two short interludes. This is one of Wuorinen’s most extraordinary chamber works of the 1970’s and it requires great virtuosity from the four players.

-Howard Stokar, 1996

 

"Tashi is in five movements, designated Movement I, Interlude, Movement II, interlude and Movement III. There is a an arch-like symmetry to the work, Movement I being roughly equal in length to Movement III (7:32 to 7:18 in this performance), the two Interludes being of very similar length (both come in at 2:44 here) and Movement II, the central section, is the longest (10:38 in this performance). Though Tashi is a complex work which reveals more with successive listenings, it is by no means forbiddingly inaccessible even at first hearing.

The first movement of Tashi is full of energy, full of elaborately worked out counterpoint and intense instrumental dialogue. The succeeding Interlude is a rather more relaxed affair, though having clear affinities, in terms of material, with what has gone before. The central section, Movement II, is particularly fine, generally quieter, less obviously assertive than Movement I, often, indeed, quite lyrical with a distinctive, gentle beauty and a degree of pathos. The second Interlude again picks up on what has preceded it, sustaining a kind of melancholy anticipatory calmness before Movement III returns with renewed energy and propulsion, before settling down, eventually, into a calmer conclusion. The whole makes gripping listening, both colourful instrumentally and engaging at intellectual and emotional levels alike." MusicWeb International

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