The Complicated Fate of Lady Tuesday's Renegade Shadow depicts a flight of fancy like a children's picture book
with swiftly changing texture and dynamic color. In three movements, it explores the relationships between six instruments
close in range, weaving in and out of each other's lines in pitch and rhythm. Sections of
instruments acting in dialogue, such as the brief canon in movement three, contrast sections of instruments
acting as a unit, as in the
pointillism at the end of the first movement. The harmony is built on the
scale resulting from the second theme's descending pattern that outlines a tritone. The work follows Lady Tuesday's
renegade shadow from her flight with the blackbirds to a very still, meditative place to a
dizzy dance among orchids.
I wrote this piece while at USC studying with Dr. Frank Ticheli. It was performed at my senior recital, February 27, 2003.