Intimations

The root of the word "intimations" is "intimate," which has two distinct (although related) forms: the adjective which means "close or familiar" and the verb which means "to hint at." The title describes the intimate dialogue which takes place between clarinet and piano and the personal, inward nature of the piece as a whole. But it also suggests a musical process whereby ideas are first hinted at or vaguely alluded to before being stated outright. When the clarinet first enters it whispers a single note. At its next entrance the single note is revealed to actually be the midpoint of a more extended fragment. This process continues as the piece unfolds. At the end a waltz-like strain in F major is heard. In retrospect, F major has been hinted at all along, yet there is something about this fragment of a new tune that suggests that it is not fully born, that it may have a life of its own outside the boundaries of the piece within which it is contained. "Intimations" was written in 1989 and premiered at a concert of the New York Guild of Composers. The movements should be written in the program thus: whispered, fragmentary - whirling, at times frenzied - whispered, fragmentary - remote.