Nostalgia (Hommage à Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable)
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Violin, Viola
- Composed
- 2022
- Publisher
- allEMusicPress (composer's imprint; score and parts from allEmusicPress@gmail.com)
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About this piece
Crossing Borders Music commissioned Nostalgia in 2018 to honour Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, the Haitian who was Chicago's first non-native resident [1]. Perrault calls it a "very accessible string trio" and built its one movement on the musical spelling of du Sable's name [2]. The score adds a dedication to all immigrants in search of a better tomorrow [3]. The cello starts on long low notes under the upper strings, takes the tune in the Andante over plucked viola, holds two-note drones through a faster dance, and closes on a repeating plucked bass line that runs for some twenty bars until all three players end on one soft pizzicato [3]. Jennifer Leckie, Seth Pae and Tom Clowes play it in the Crossing Borders film, made for the First Blacks Chicago series [1].
Technical overview
One movement in 4/4 that moves through Adagio, Andante at quarter note = 80, a Più mosso at 126, Moderato and a closing Più mosso ma non troppo. Mostly bass clef, with short tenor-clef phrases that reach the G above middle C, so it sits within the first four positions. Staccato and held two-note double stops, slurred eighth-note lines that often double the viola, dotted rhythms, and a long dotted pizzicato ostinato at the end. The harder task is ensemble: the cello often keeps the pulse for the others, and there are rubato passages and fermatas to lead through.
Technical focus
- 4 Note Slurs
- Dotted Rhythms
- Double Stops
- Ensemble Skills
- Hairpin Dynamics
- Legato
- Rubato
- Shifting
- Staccato
- Sul Tasto
- Tempo Changes
- Tenor Clef