Tom Smail
The hazard of the die
(2016)
for violoncello and piano
Duration: 15'
Instrumentation details:
piano
violoncello
The hazard of the die
Sample pages
Audio preview
Work introduction
The piano is every bit the cello's equal in this piece, not merely an accompaniment. It is a communion of two instruments, a conversation - and the conversation ranges far and wide: questioning, answering, remembering, lamenting, celebrating, shouting, whispering, furiously arguing and occasionally agreeing. Sometimes they listen politely; sometimes they talk over each other. It ends as it begins, in questioning uncertainty.
Commissioned by the Pennington Mellor Munthe Trust.