Commissioned by Ann DuHamel with funds provided by University of Minnesota Imagine Fund Award.

Rückblick, takes its inspiration from two pieces of Brahms. The first is the Intermezzo Op. 119, No. 1, nicknamed “The Gray Pearl” by Clara Schumann.  This piece is among the last pieces Brahms wrote. The second is the 4th movement of Brahms’s Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 5 (a much earlier work).  This movement is also an Intermezzo; subtitled “Rückblick,” which literally translates to “backward glance.” In these four movements, I explore ideas of looking forward, backward and being in the here and now in time by borrowing from these two “book-end” works from Brahms’s oeuvre.  

Recording:
Rückblick: I. A Look Ahead [2:22]
Rückblick: II. Memento (After Clara’s “Gray Pearl”) [2:50]
Rückblick: III. Here, Now [2:04]
Rückblick: IV. A Backward Glance [5:14]