Peter Child: Reviews: Pantomime Composed 2007. Excerpted from (Portland Press Herald, August 25th, 2007)
"Pantomime," which the composer calls "incidental music to an unwritten play," is a series of short character sketches for oboe, violin, viola and cello - witty, charming and easily accessible on first hearing. They masterfully exploit the tension between tonality and dissonance to depict mood and personality. They also have some great parts for the oboe, which is only to be expected. The series opens with a march-like Intrada, followed by a rapid, scurrying Lickety-Split, whose abrupt ending had the audience laughing. The Soliloquy is a long-lined, introspective oboe solo, with the strings acting primarily as an accompaniment. They will have their revenge later. Jitterbug is inappropriately named, since the fierce, concise rhythm of this section has little to do with the old-fashioned teenage dance. The next two movements, Chorale and Chorale Prelude, are deliberately placed in the wrong order. A chorale prelude, usually for organ, elaborates on a theme from the hymn for four voices, or chorale, that follows. Since the audience, unlike Bach's, is unfamiliar with the chorale's hymn tune, it seems logical to put the prelude last. The strings' revenge comes in the final Exeunt, where they play an uncompromising dirge against the oboe's hysterical protest, as if she talked unendingly and fast enough, she could escape inevitable doom.
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