RICERCAR for oboe, clarinet and bassoon is a set of 64 variations on a cycle of seventeen eighth notes. The work is a continuous movement divided into two sections, slow and fast. The fabric is contrapuntal, with periodic occurrences throughout the work of homophonic areas where parallel periods move in different intervallic sonorities. The dialectic of the work lies in the interplay of temporal and chromatic aspects. This interplay is achieved by shaping the chromatic material so that it can be transformed from an expression of the temporal cycle to a disguised form of this cycle. Periodically, the tension accumulating from this play of pitch with time and pitch against time climaxes and is released. RICERCAR was written in 1976 and premiered by the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
