John Burge

Commissioner: Karma Tomm, violin and Wolf Tormann, cello

Premiere: Karma Tomm, violin, and Wolf Tormann, cello; Chalmers United Church, Kingston, Ontario, January 15, 2011

Duration: 14 minutes

Program Note: "Pas de deux," will be familiar as a duet in which two ballet dancers perform together.  A translation of this French term literally means, “step or dance for two.”  The ballet form usually consists of an entrée, adagio, two variations (one for each dancer) and a coda.  In composing a dance-inspired equivalent for just violin and cello, the music takes the form of an introduction followed by a presentation of a violin theme, accompanied by the cello, and then a cello theme, which is accompanied by the violin.  Both themes are very closely related with the cello version simply emphasizing slower moving rhythmic values.  After the presentation of each theme, a brief interlude captures the mood of the introduction.  The final portion of the work consists of both instruments playing in tandem as the music develops both themes in a more virtuosic fashion.  Indeed, by having both the violin and cello play on more than one string at the same time during the final portion of the music, the string texture certainly sounds like there are more than two just two instruments performing.

This work was written specifically for violinist Karma Tomm and cellist Wolf Tormann, two of the composer's colleagues at the School of Music, Queen's University. Both performers presented the premiere performance of the work on a School of Music's Faculty Artist Series Concert, January 15, 2011.

Performance Materials: Please see the Canadian Music Centre for the purchase, printing on demand, or rental of all performance materials for this work: Pas de Deux (CMC)

CD Recording: This work was recorded by Elissa Lee, violinist, and Rachel Mercer, cellist, and included on the Ensemble Made in Canada's CD devoted to the some of John Burge's chamber music for strings and piano.  The CD, titled "2+2=4", was released in 2015 on the Canadian Music Centre's Centrediscs label. Michael Schulman in writing of this recording in The WholeNote Magazine [September 28, 2015] commented: The disc opens with Pas de Deux (2010), performed by the Ensemble’s violinist Elissa Lee and cellist Rachel Mercer. Its structure mirrors that of the balletic duo and the music’s warm lyricism and rocking rhythm could easily be choreographed for a real, danced love-duet.

Repeat Performances:

• Yehonatan Berick, violin, and Rachel Mercer, cello, at the Classical Unbound Festival, Prince Edward County, ON, August 18, 2017.
• Edmond Agopian, violin, and Joshua Lee, cello, on a Calgary Youth Orchestra New Music Concert, Mount Royal University Conservatory of Music, Calgary, AB, Feb. 3, 2012.
• Steven Sitarski, violin, and David Hetherington, cello, at a National Youth Orchestra Faculty Chamber Music Concert, the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, July 10, 2011.