del Águila - Disagree! for Clarinet, Viola and Piano

Overloaded with apparently incompatible thematic material, Disagree! is a work about integrating disparity. By doing this, it celebrates and makes a statement for pluralism in music and in our society. This “disagreement” of thematic material carries over to the performers who as the work progresses seem to increasingly disagree about the piece and its direction as they keep interrupt and at times, mocking each other. After much discrepancy, friendly dialogue and playfulness, a confrontation and a wild chase rushes the piece to its uplifting conclusion as all realize that they have made music together in spite of their differences. The varied thematic material is evocative of South American dances like Malambo, Vals Criollo, Tango and Milonga with occasional neo-romantic outbursts from the pianist, minimalist passages from clarinetist and violinist, pastoral moods and dissonant, polytonal percussive clashes. The clarinet and piano are often the soloists of the ensemble and dominate the piece with often virtuosistic passages.

Instrumentation:

• Clarinet
• Viola
• Piano