Chiaroscuro

with Piano

Chiaroscuro was composed in 2007. Its title refers to the contrasting effects of light and shade in painting, a technique usually associated with such seventeenth-century artists as Caravaggio and Rembrandt. The work is dedicated to Larry Van Oyen, my good friend and current saxophone teacher and Director of Bands at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. When I forwarded the score to Larry, I shared these comments with him: “In many ways, this is my most personal piece. It probably comes closest to expressing the unsettled quality of my soul at this juncture in life – a jumble of sorrows and hopes, worries and faith.”

– Whitney Prince