Mark Nowakowski

Dissertation Abstract

Fragments: A Concerto for Violin and Orchestra

Fragments, a concerto for violin and orchestra, was composed in fulfillment of the dissertation requirements for the DMA in Composition degree at the University of Maryland.  It is a 22'30 minute long work dedicated to the violinist Emily Ondracek Peterson. The work is scored for violin soloist, two flutes, one oboe, two Bb clarinets (with the second doubling on bass clarinet), two bassoons, four horns in F, two trombones, timpani, three percussionists, piano (doubling celesta), and full strings (with divisi in movements one and three.)

The work is composed in two main sections divided by a substantial interlude, though the movements are labeled 1-2-3. (Movements one and two are played with only a slight pause between them, while the gong that ends movement one is still ringing.)  The interlude or second movement acts as an interlude or island of repose between the larger first and third movements.  

The musical material for the beginning of the first movement is drawn conceptually from the sound of wind chimes, with the violin solo emerging slowly from the undulating diatonic wash that results.  The resulting joyful music in this "A" section is not allowed to develop fully, instead being curtailed prematurely only to be revisited near the end of the work.  A short transition and cadenza section lead us into the more linear, dark, and increasingly aggressive material of the "B" section that remains until the end of the first movement.  The meditative second movement contains a comparatively simpler music underscored by a single pulsating "B", repeated in the harp and assorted instruments every three beats.  The third movement picks up with the "B" material from the end of the first movement, developing it into a short dance-like section which moves between the whimsical and the aggressive.  This section fades away, leaving the violin exposed for a second small cadenza.  As the cadenza material concludes, a transformed version of the opening "A" material emerges, this time being allowed to develop fully into a joyful and vibrant finale.