The Portal- M. A. Cruz (2006)
Advanced

This is a challenging and lengthy two movement piece. The first movement of this diptych was featured in volume XXXII Nos. 3-4 of the 2007 Soundboard Magazine issue and is available here in its entirety.

THE PORTAL
Often we encounter metaphorical doors which, once passed through, can drastically change our lives. Such encounters require a great deal of thought and “questioning” before the threshold into the unknown is crossed.

Once the unknown is revealed we experience growth as a result of decisiveness. With this, we are “enlightened”, and it is wonderful to know that opportunity for growth is always beyond the next “portal”.

PROGRAM NOTES
The first movement, Questioning, is a modest fantasy/ternary piece loosely based on a short six note motive extracted from Roland Dyens’ Saudade No. 3. To invoke an air of uncertainty, the composer uses angular movements, change of feel, space and a constant shifting of tonal center.

The second movement, Enlightened, begins with an eighteen bar introduction which rather than establishing the key to present the theme in tonic, modulates to the dominant, placing the presentation of the theme in the dominant key right away. Following the theme in the dominant, incidental material modulates the piece again to present the B section in the mediant key. The return of the main theme is placed in the tonic key.Episodic material gives way to a version of the theme in the minor-subdominant key while more episodic material returns the piece back to its original key of E major for a hearing of a condensed introduction. This return puts the theme back in the dominant followed by a coda placing the theme in tonic with a new melodic and harmonic foundation for the closing material. An overview of the key structure reveals the outline of a basic major triad followed by the simplest of progressions: V -III -I -iv -V -I .