Deciduous

The word “deciduous” refers to a tree or other plant that loses its leaves after its fruit is ripe. It also refers to any sort of falling off or shedding at a mature stage of development in a life cycle. In this piece, a musical fragment that originally seems secondary grows in importance as all of the other musical material around it is stripped away. One is left with the deciduous fragment, which then becomes the focus of the next section, and fills a very different musical role than when it was first presented. This idea also applies to the choice of the two instruments, violin and steel pan. These instruments naturally have very different aesthetics, but as the piece progresses their sounds develop into a harmonious duet. This cycle is continued throughout the work - each "kernel" grows to maturity, plants the "seed" for a new section, and then finally dies away.

- Kristin Lee & Ian Rosenbaum