Charon

Charon from Drew Baker on Vimeo.

The title Charon refers to the boatman who ferries dead souls across the river Acheron to the shores of Hell. The music itself isn’t intended to be expressly programmatic, but the otherworldly qualities brought about by the unison timbres of the clarinet, violin and cello as well as the slowly ascending melodic patterns, provide subtle allusions to the title. Perhaps equally relevant is the manner in which the piece gradually and methodically morphs from the five-note pattern of the opening to a very different ending point. Charon was written for the ai ensemble.