The Window Between. (Original Composition) (Orchestra, Mezzo-Soprano).
Gregory L. Youtz · Deep Blue (University of Michigan) · 1987
The Window Between is a four movement symphony/song cycle for large orchestra and mezzo-soprano voice. The texts are by the composer and are titled as follows: (1) Between; (2) Dancing; (3) Fields; (4) My Window. The piece is an exploration of large scale, extended tonal form, its primary key center being E. It is also an exploration of text setting, both at the local, word painting level, and at the larger, structural level, as demonstrated by the first movement which begins with an "ending." Quite romantic in both orchestration and style, the piece draws upon influences from the past: Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Richard Strauss, Mahler and Schoenberg. Like much music of the late Romantic period, the symphony is cyclic, employing a recurring, though ever-changing primary theme throughout its four movements. It first appears in movement I in the clarinet (m. 12). In the second movement its intervals are diminished, transforming it into a romantic waltz theme. The third movement takes the inversion of the opening three note motive of the primary theme and develops an exp and ing interval gesture. The final movement further develops fragments of the primary theme, then quotes briefly from the previous three movements before closing quietly on a modified E Major chord. The Window Between has a total duration of approximately 35 minutes.