Performed by the Glaux Trio. Cynthia Folio, flute; Jeffrey Solow, cello; Charles Abramovic, piano.

My inspiration for Sonata for Silence came after attending a forum hosted by the Philadelphia Music Project during which composer Ken Ueno presented his orchestra piece Kaze-no-Oka. His piece is a memorial to Toru Takemitsu, and Ueno discussed the importance of silence both within the piece and as a facet of Japanese culture. He treats silence as if it were another instrument in the orchestra, which spawned my idea for this trio. Sonata for Silence uses dynamic and timbral contrast to emphasize silence through meeting or breaking the listener’s expectations. The piece presents silence in a variety of contexts so that it has a different character each time it is heard (or not heard). In this way, silence develops its own voice and the trio, in essence, becomes a quartet.

View low resolution score below or click here to download the high res. version.