Sextet
Performed by Bergamot Quartet (String quartet), Javor Bracic (Piano), Gleb Kanasevich (Clarinet)
The second half of “Conversations” pairs Liatoshynsky with Aaron Copland, “the dean of American composers,” who like Liatoshynsky sought to shape a national sonic identity and, to a lesser degree, also suffered political persecution — he was brought before HUAC in 1953. In a curious counterpoint with Liatoshynsky, Copland’s Sextet came into being after his Short Symphony of 1932–33 was deemed too difficult by orchestras; the composer revised the work for simplified instrumentation to increase performance possibilities. Copland said of it: “The work is in three movements (fast, slow, fast) played without pause. The movement is scherzo-like in character… The second movement is in three brief sections… The finale is once again bright in color and rhythmically intricate.”