Verklärte Einblicke

The concept behind Verklärte Einblicke (Transfigured Glimpses) was inspired by a note that artist Jasper Johns (b. 1930) scrawled in one of his sketchbooks, which subsequently became a maxim invoked by contemporary artists, critics, and art historians:

      Take an Object. Do something to it. Do something else to it. [Repeat.]

The “object” in this case is Beethoven’s String Trio, Op. 9 No. 3 — specifically, 11 fragments from this work, which are recast through a variety of transformational processes. These modified fragments are presented as a series of brief episodes, each framed by silence—evoking, in a somewhat exaggerated manner, Beethoven’s notable use of the Grand Pause in many of his own works. The Op. 9 string trios are early works in the composer’s oeuvre, and as precursors to his revolutionary string quartets—arguably Beethoven’s most significant contribution to Western chamber music, and themselves important vehicles for experimentation during the composer’s middle and late periods—they provide a stylistic baseline for the development of musical materials in the present work.

Verklärte Einblicke was composed at the request of the Amorsima Trio, for a program of miniatures celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.  The work was premiered by the Amorsima Trio on 2 November 2021 at the University of North Texas.

Recorded 10 September 2023 at the University of North Texas Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater. Ermir Bejo, recording engineer.