Intermezzo
clarinet, trumpet, violin, bass,
piano and two percussionists (1997)
Duration: ca. 4’33” minutes
Intermezzo was was written at the request
of Michael J. Baker, then music director of
the Toronto-based contemporary music
ensemble Arraymusic, for a concert
featuring a number of ‘miniatures’ —
short pieces by mainly Canadian
composers. The work is scored for the
unusual instrumentation of the Arraymusic
ensemble: clarinet, trumpet, violin, bass,
piano and two percussionists (playing
vibraphone, glockenspiel, tubular bells,
tam tam, and bass drum). Intermezzo is in
three sections — fast and agitated at the
start and gradually changing, through a
middle, ostinato section on a single chord,
to a relaxed, quietly floating texture in the
final part of the piece. At the very end,
strains of the material from the opening of
the piece are fleetingly heard once more,
interrupted by quiet rolls on the bass drum.
Intermezzo can also be heard on the
soundtrack for the National Film Board of
