Passacalliope
PASSACALLIOPE (2025)
for flute and percussion · ca. 5 minutes
Instrumentation: Flute, Percussion (snare drum, tambourine, 5 woodblocks, triangle)
PROGRAM NOTE
Passacalliope is scored for flute and percussion (snare drum, tambourine, five woodblocks, and triangle). The title — a wordplay on the traditional passacaglia form and Calliope, the Greek muse of eloquence — reflects the rhetorical game played throughout the piece: a playful effort by both instruments to imitate each other’s characteristics while bending the strict rules of the form.
The work opens with the flute introducing the traditional passacaglia theme, but as the music unfolds, the two instruments enter an identity crisis. The flute grows increasingly percussive, sharp, and biting, persuaded by the percussion to abandon its lyrical nature. In return, the percussionist attempts to construct a melody not out of pitched notes, but out of distinct textures and timbres — spanning from the low resonance of the snare drum, through the tambourine and woodblocks, up to the bright triangle. As this sonic tug-of-war intensifies, the structural constraints of the passacaglia break down completely, giving way to spiraling, chaotic music that races toward an explosive, rhythmically wild conclusion.
PREMIERE & PERFORMANCES
Workshop Performance: December 17, 2025 at The Juilliard School (Juilliard Station), New York, NY
Performers: Nikka Gershman (flute), Doyeon Kim (percussion)
