Gestos inútiles

Instrumentation
Flute, doubling Piccolo
Clarinet in B-flat
Piano
Violin
Cello

Written between August and September, 2014 in Alexandria, Virginia and Murphysboro, Illinois.
Commissioned by Lontano, Odaline de la Martínez, Artistic Director, for the 2014 Lontano London Festival of American Music.
Duration: approx. 15 minutes

 Premiered By Lontano, Odaline de la Martínez, director at the 2014

 Lontano Festival of American Music in London, UK.

Gestos inútiles (“Useless Gestures”) comes at a strange, transitional time in my personal life. Because of this, there are moments of darkness, particularly in the third movement, “The Violence Inherent in the System,” although that darkness is tempered, I hope, by humor and a tinge of sarcasm, as well as the surprising joy of “…humming a tune I haven’t heard in years!”, and the playfulness of “The Flawed Facsimile of a Familiar Passacaglia.” These are character pieces, brief, relatively simple and to the point written with the virtuosity of the fabulous ensemble, Lontano, with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working over the last few years, very much in mind.
Gestos inútiles was written in the summer of 2014 in Alexandria, Virginia, with the bulk of the work completed in Murphysboro, Illinois. It is dedicated to Lontano and its artistic director and founder, Odaline de la Martínez (although the second movement is specifically dedicated, with much affection, to Tammy Merrett. She knows why).