"The Trivium is a systematic method of critical thinking used to derive factual certainty from information perceived with the traditional five senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. In the medieval university, the trivium was the lower division of the seven liberal arts, and comprised grammar, logic, and rhetoric (input, process, and output)"

These three pieces give a foundation for an undergraduate student as they begin to approach modern music: timbre, intervallic relationships, technical challenges. 

All recorded by Tina Tallon. For more info on each piece and the names of the violinists performing them, please click on the individual piece.

Trivium

This is the first in a set of solo violin works. Each work in this set was intended to emphasize certain aspects of modern music that an undergraduate student might encounter without throwing everything at them at once. The spoken words of an incantation are believed to carry power in those words. In the same way, the power of music is in its sound. The sound of a single note can convey much. 

This recording is from the premiere at the Cortona Sessions for New Music 2016 performed by Natalie Calma. 



Incantation

This is the second in a set of solo violin works. Each work in this set was intended to emphasize certain aspects of modern music that an undergraduate student might encounter without throwing everything at them at once. The focus in this work are melodic intervals which give a sense of reflection. 

This recording is from the Cortona Sessions for New Music 2016, performed by Nicole Parks. 

Nocturne

This is the last in a set of solo violin works. Each work in this set was intended to emphasize certain aspects of modern music that an undergraduate student might encounter without throwing everything at them at once. This is the one that emphasize technical challenges. 

This recording is from the Cortona Sessions for New Music 2016, performed by Ari Streisfeld. 

Trivium

Marshall D Jones