| Concerto for the Young Adventurer is a four-movement work written for cello, vibraphone and piano. Its themes are youthful adventure and exploration. Although the work is not programmatic in the strict sense, each movement is titled to guide the listener through a possible interpretation of the music's meaning. Each instrument is featured in several places, and all three provide supporting material when not in the spotlight. As a whole, the work is symphonic in its structure. Each movement serves its purpose in the larger picture, while all can function independently from one another. Recurring ideas link the movements together thematically and unify the work.;"Prologue" introduces the ensemble, sets the tone of the piece, introduces the harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary, and foreshadows several thematic ideas that appear prominently in later movements. The form of the movement is similar to sonata allegro, although the development section explores beyond the primary and secondary themes. This could also be considered a ternary form.;The material in "Crystal Cavern" is derived from several thematic cells presented in the beginning expository section of the movement. This movement's form is ternary. It can be seen as a free-form exploration of the motives and themes introduced in the opening section, although its modified recapitulation provides a partial sense of closure.;"Spiral Factory" is a farcical scherzo. Its pitch material comes directly from the Fibonacci Sequence, which produces a repeating pattern of 24 pitches. In that set of pitches, every note in the 12-note chromatic scale is used, except for F sharp. As a result of this glaring omission, the composer purposefully uses F sharp as a pedal tone towards the end of the movement. The form of this movement is ternary as well. The opening and closing sections are angular declarations of the aforementioned sequence of pitches, and the middle section is based on the inverse of that sequence, although only 17 of the 24 pitches are used. In addition, the vibraphone uses the Fibonacci Sequence rhythmically---this usage will figure prominently in the final movement of the piece.;"Crackpot's Creation" begins with a limited set of pitches and rhythmic cells and builds off of these for a while, before arriving at a rhythmic representation of the Fibonacci Sequence. Next, a macabre dance-like section in 5/8 time reinterprets the opening gestures. Contrasting this is a lyrical fugal section introduced by the cello that ultimately gives way to an amalgamation of several established thematic elements. The opening material is never recapitulated in its original form, although the repeated two-note gesture is basic enough that it can be found in many places throughout the movement, and even elsewhere in the work. |
