Chameleon

Chameleon
for cello sextet
or string quartet
or trombone septet

Full Orchestra
String Orchestra
Wind Ensemble
Vocal
Chamber
Solo Instrumental

   Written for the 2014 Dulwich International Music Academy and premiered in Beijing on June 28, 2014

   The chameleon is a somewhat mysterious lizard noted for its ability to change color. Some believe the color changes help to camouflage the lizards, but more recent evidence suggests that they change colors for social and emotional reasons instead. While writing Chameleon, I envisioned using glissandos in all the cello parts to gradually morph between different harmonies. Sometimes, out of a cloud of dissonance, a major triad will come into focus for a split second before disappearing into the haze. The first cello serves the role of a soloist and rises into the stratosphere on two occasions, while the harmonies continuously blend, coalesce, and diverge.

   There is a version of Chameleon, arranged by the composer, for trombone septet: 5 tenor trombones and 2 bass trombones, and for string quartet.

   Duration: ca. 9'

   Download a sample score pdf of the cello sextet version here.

Watch a performance at the 2016 Bowdoin International Music Festival by Clare Bradford, Stephen Perkyns,
Sam Viguerie, Brendan Tarm, Sarah Song, and Sophie Applbaum, cellos; Justin DeFilippis, conductor

Listen to a midi mockup of the version for trombone septet:

Chameleon is currently self-published. You may purchase this work with the buttons below. If you need a quote for a purchase order, please contact me.