Timepiece
Cindy McTee (b. 1953)

THE STORY

Timepiece was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for its 100th Anniversary Season and premiered in February 2000. Composer Cindy McTee states that she chose the title “…not only for its connection to the celebration…but also for the manner in which musical time shapes the work.” Over her career, McTee has received commissions from ensembles including the National Symphony Orchestra and Houston Symphony. In addition to Guggenheim and Fulbright fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, among others, her work has earned performances in Carnegie Hall on five separate occasions.

McTee has noted the influence of Carl Jung on Timepiece—in particular, the psychiatrist’s depiction of the “tensions between the oppositions of conscious and unconscious, of thought and feeling, of mind and body, of objectivity and subjectivity. So too have the integration and reconciliation of opposing elements become important aspects of my work.” The composer embodies these dualities in the piece through musical idioms that can be interpreted in contradictory ways, such as a repetitive rhythmic figure that can be viewed as time suspended or as time recurring. In her description, she writes: 

“The piece begins slowly, ‘before’ time, in a womb-like, subjective, holding place. And then a clock-like pulse emerges, takes control, and provides the driving force behind a sustained, highly energized second section... Discipline yields to improvisation, and perhaps most importantly, humor takes its place comfortably alongside the grave and earnest.”

THE STORY

• A slow introduction which depicts the suspension of time, with sudden

  bursts of energy interrupting the stillness

• The extensive percussion section—particularly the wood block, which represents the ticking of a clock

• The steady rhythmic pulse of the fast section

INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, piano, strings