Daily Classical Music Post
Billy Childs: Two Elements: I. Water
The decorations are up, the holiday music is blaring in the shops; there is no mistaking what time of year it is. This December, the Daily Classical Music Post will introduce you to music composed for or inspired by holidays that occur in the month of December. There will be a little something for everyone (I hope)!
Two Elements, by the American composer Billy Childs (born 1957), was one of the featured works presented in a concert for Kwanzaa in December 2021. The organisers said that the first movement, “Water,” “imbued the essence of the Seven Principles in [his] timeless and joyous music.”
The American Brass Quintet commissioned Childs in 2007 to compose a piece for piano and brass quintet. The composer and ABQ premiered Two Elements in July that year. The composer said, “For the last ten years or so, I’ve been developing—through performance, rehearsal, and recording—my jazz-chamber ensemble. The term ‘jazz-chamber’ is one that I feel best describes the intent of my group because it has, as its central concept, the symbiotic synthesis of America’s classical music, jazz, and European classical chamber music.”
Michael Powell said, “The work is titled Two Elements, and the movement names are ‘Water’ and ‘Fire.’ As the names imply, these movements are a study in opposites. ‘Water’ is quite impressionistic, and ‘Fire’ is complex in a rhythmic way. Both movements feature sections where the pianist improvises.”
My classical music post for today is Billy Childs’ Two Elements: I. Water.