Outbursts (2019)

Professional level. These four movements each imagine some sort of verbal disharmony - i.e., various ways of losing it. All movements are constructed from a synthetic 8-note scale. $40, including piano score, parts, and demo disk; order here.

I. Tantrums & Tirades - A relentless blowing off of steam with a lecturing, self-righteous edge.  Though said in a variety of ways, the message is repetitious and insistent.  It ends in a “so-there,-I-told-you-so,-take-it-or-leave-it,” kind of way, eschewing any hint of possible compromise.

II. Holiday Flareups - That curmudgeonly uncle everyone is afraid will ruin the family Thanksgiving dinner is true to form, and in turn ignites hostility from others who cannot resist calling him out.  The piano (the hostess?) twice attempts to restore peace, an exercise in futility.  Eventually, after a last bitter disputation, all leave the table in disgusted silence. 

III. Shouting Match - The underlying tensions of an initially amicable scherzo quickly escalate into a pitched battle between the voices.  Factions of the group sometimes agree, but more often exchange mockeries and denunciations of each other.  Occasional truces are brief as previous bones of contention inevitably re-emerge. 

IV. Anger Mismanagement - Three and a half minutes of unrestrained, childish primal scream in a heavy rock groove that drops half of every 4th beat.  The lull near the end is the result of sheer exhaustion rather than any return to civility.