Neo Trio

This trio for Oboe, Alto Saxophone, and Piano was commissioned by Dr. Debra McKim, Professor of Music at Hastings College in Nebraska.  Each movement of this piece is based on a different synthetic scale. 

The first movement is based on a five-note scale that includes the notes of a half-diminished chord plus the major second.  Harmonic motion is created by transposing the scale up by minor thirds every measure, then every two beats, and finally every beat. 

The second movement is based on a symmetrical six-note scale that include three half-steps:  B, C, Eb, E, G, Ab.  The scale remains the same throughout the movement, without modulation.  Augmented harmonies are created by building chords from every other note of the scale. 

The third movement uses the same six-note scale throughout: Db, E, F, F#, A, C. Harmonic motion is very limited in this movement

This is an excellent for a college recital.