Composer’s Note:

Night Music was commissioned by the Friday Morning Music Club of Washington, DC as the required work for the Third Triennial Johansen International Competition for Young String Players (2003). This prestigious competition is for young performers ages 13–17, and in 2003 the judges were James Buswell, Heidi Castleman and Aldo Parisot. The requirements for the commissioned work were that the duration be no more than three minutes and that the work is written so that it can be performed on violin, viola and violoncello without any instrument-specific editing to the piece. I tried to capture a fleeting glimpse of lyricism and technical virtuosity arising from a soloist inspired by the mystery and poetry of the night.