Kindred Spirits

Kindred Spirits was written for Ottawa’s The Thirteen Strings. It was designed to be played on a Christmas concert, in between Corelli’s Christmas Cantata and Scarlatti’s Cantata Pastorale. Beginning with material reminiscent of the Corelli and ending with foreshadowing of the opening of the Scarlatti, it progresses from a fairly conventional tonal language, reminiscent of Stravinski’s Pulcinella, to an apparently atonal middle section, replete with cluster chords, back to the land of tonality at the end, all in an apparent sonata form.

Kindred Spirits was premiered in Ottawa by The Thirteen Strings, directed by Kevin Mallon, on December 3, 2019 at the Carleton Dominion Chalmers Centre in Ottawa.

This recording was made on April 6, 2021, by members of the University of Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Trevor Wilson. Special thanks to Trevor for his perfect understanding of the tempi, timing, shape and phrasing, and to the principal violin for his superb high artificial harmonics!