Canzona da camera (2014) was commissioned by Musicians of the Old Post Road, a period instrument ensemble. In the manner of several of my works in recent years, the piece approaches writing for historical instruments from the “past forward”—in other words, rather than seeking out novel contemporary timbres and effects, the music starts with gestures, textures, and harmonies of the early repertoire and extends forward organically from there: most especially in the area of contemporary forms of mixed modality.

Two slow, free outer sections surround the inner contrapuntal canzona, in which there is free interplay of duples and triples in the manner of the Spanish baroque.