Jasper

Jasper is a work centering around a reenactment of a telephone conversation I took part in when I was an adolescent. The instrumentation is female voice (no text) percussion, violoncello, and sound file (compact disc playback). The third movement (III. Phone Conversation) uses recordings of actors, samples of noises, and altered fragments of the text to reflect on the dialogue as well as direct the intensity of emotion though out the piece. Because of the jarring nature of the dialogue, the improbability of a phone conversation lasting for a very long time, and the importance of context to a phone call such as this, there was a need to precede the central movement with reflective, pensive, and motivically related movements that present some of the materials with more clarity. Because of the horrifying ending of the third movement, it is important to have a postlude during which the information can be reflected upon and manipulated in abstract ways, to encourage thoughtful consideration of the events, while discouraging rash judgment.