List of Works || Interlude in an Artist's Life

Weinzweig completed Interlude in an Artist’s Life shortly before beginning his duties as a music theory instructor at the RCAF Rockcliffe base in Ottawa. The title refers to this enlistment, which was to be a kind of “interlude” is his own compositional life. Although this work is serial—Weinzweig having learned the technique while at Eastman (1937-8)—it highlights the perfect fourth interval; its more traditional ternary-like form helps the audience hear familiarity in the dissonant language.

The first section (“Andante Quasi allegretto”) employs a lilting melody in 6/8 metre; played with mutes, this section is lush and at times sweet, which balances the dissonance. The middle section (“Poco Allegro”) removes the mutes and increases the energy with sharp articulations (staccato, sforzandi, accents, pizzicato). Weinzweig begins to integrate the two sections before returning to the original tempo, muted strings, and lilting melody. Despite its use of serialist technique and chromatic saturation, Interlude ends with an open fifth in the low strings.

Written by Alexa Woloshyn