Security Lapses (2016), for Trio d’Anches

Oboe, Clarinet, & Bassoon; to the PEN Trio, with gratitude.

In each of these 4 short pieces – modeled on “ripped from the headlines” stories of modern espionage – a stable pattern of activity is disrupted by an uninvited intrusion, and disruption ensues. Audio excerpts are here; sheet music available commercially in the PEN Collection from TrevCo Music, here.  

I. Leaks - A quiet tranquility is occasionally disturbed by the brief escape of individual parts from the whole.  Gradually the breach widens until the entire system breaks down and each rebel proclaims a similar story.  The system is reformed, only to be stretched and eventually broken again.

II. Hacks - A computer is booted up and its user begins to work; the software’s binary code is reflected in the repeated notes and emphasis on the interval of a 2nd. Viruses and trojans emerge and gradually compromise the system, requiring re-boots. Eventually the infection becomes so bad that the user is forced to give up.

III. Moles - An intruder invades the system – perhaps by parachute – and tries to blend in unobtrusively. A brief march tells hints at the nature of the target. The intruder’s efforts to remain unnoticed sometimes ring false, and eventually its cover is blown.

IV. Bugs - Hidden microphones listen in, at first detecting only an unrevealing background noise, but occasionally detecting some bold statements full of information. Some of it turns out to be of so little consequence that it’s laughable.