[In 1967] Fine
had an unusual request—the Wykeham Rise School, a
private school in Connecticut, wanted a composition for
its graduation ceremony…in lieu of a commencement
speaker. There were no restrictions on Fine’s
creativity since professional musicians from the Hartt
School of Music would be hired for the performance. Fine
decided to write Quintet for Trumpet, String Trio and
Harp. Its five baroque-style movements…are
reminiscent of her piano compositions of the late 1930s,
when Fine was studying with Sessions, however, now her
sophisticated musical language allowed flexibility. The
Quintet is experimental while maintaining
Fine’s personal voice.
The opening
“Lento” presents ideas that are used later in
the Quintet. First, intervals of diminished and
stretched octaves (heard as major sevenths and ninths)
and diminished and perfect fifths are prominent, allowing
the listener an opportunity to reflect upon the material.
Then, as a counterpoint evolves amongst the string trio,
polyrhythms of 5:3:4 establish a layering of different
tempi, which becomes a salient feature of the Quintet.
Next, a twelve-measure passacaglia theme begins with the
viola, but soon becomes a klangfarben statement amongst
the strings. The theme is repeated two more times, and
Fine is careful to make its head of a major seventh stand
out in the midst of a dense contrapuntal texture. The
passacaglia theme has a series of changing meters that
produce a sinuous and twisting movement that helps to
identify its repetition. One only wishes the
“Passacaglia” were longer. Fine’s
evolving counterpoint, intricate layering, and complex
rhythms make this such an interesting movement that the
listener is left wanting more.
Two “Duos”
follow. The first is between violin and viola. Lacking
barlines and meters, this passage exploits the layered
tempi heard in the Quintet’s beginning. The
violin’s tempo is sixteenth-note = 184 and marked
“with a ‘parlando’ quality
throughout” while the viola’s tempo is
sixteenth-note = 132 and a “poco espressivo”
indication. The lines are independent of each other, and
Fine was careful to balance a flourish of activity in one
line with longer durations in the other so that the two
tempi are more apparent. Together they form a not quite
perfect 3/2 ration (92/66). Further complications in the
violin line, such as asymmetrical subdivisions of the
beat, make this a virtuosic and challenging movement. The
viola continues in the second duet but now its partner is
the harp. This duet is less complicated, having meters
(although they change frequently), barlines, and common
tempo.
The “Pavane” is
a somber movement. “Lento, in modo funerale
quarter-note = 60,” with the trumpet performing a
solo four-measure phrase. Thereafter material from the
Quintet’s “Lento” is reused in
differing combinations and rhythms. For example, what was
an active cello melody in eighth-, sixteenth-, and
thirty-second-notes becomes a slower trumpet melody
augmented in values and at times with extended durations.
It is combined with the original viola counterpoint but
minus the asymmetrical groupings and changes in dynamics,
which make it a more expressive melody than the original.
Mutes for both the trumpet and viola also change the
character of the melodies. A similar adaptation occurs
for a cello passage….
The last movement,
“Cadenza and Ritornella Caleidoscopico,”
begins with a parlando solo for trumpet. Changes in
tempi, mutes, and dynamics give it the bravura
characteristic that a brass player enjoys….Fine has
great fun with the Caleidoscopico because she recombines
materials from previous movements. In measure 201 the
violin and viola lines from the “Duos” are
switched and layered on top of harp material from the
“Pavane.” Then in measure 227 a trumpet
phrase from the Passacaglia” is combined with a
cello counterpoint that turns out to be a viola passage
from the “Lento” beginning. Many more such
recombinings occur, and the Quintet finally ends
with an accompanied version of the trumpet’s solo
that began the “Pavane.” The Quintet
is so cleverly made that one hopes it spoke to the
graduates for whom it was written. Perhaps Fine’s
selection of movement styles, such as the passacaglia,
duos, and pavane, and ”Caleidoscopico” ending
was her statement to them about life’s unexpected
twistings and turnings.
–Heidi Von
Gunden, The Music of Vivian Fine, Scarecrow Press,
1999