Touch/Still (2018)
Cello, piano
9 minutes
Note
Touch/Still was written as an experiment in tone, mood, and honesty. I set out to write a piece of shifting and contorting sound worlds that felt wholly improvisatory, like a true and organic dialogue between two instruments. The cello slips and dances through the texture seemingly with a mind of its own, guiding the shifting moods of the music, and the piano is there to catch and accompany it. Dramatic shifts in rhythmic speed serve as the motive and design of the lyrical nature of the music. What results is a sort of dramatic duet. The dialogue continues throughout the piece until the two voices drift off from one another, and the sound dies away.
Touch/Still received an honorable mention by the Charles Ives Concert Series in Danbury, Connecticut in 2019.
From a recent performance in San Francisco, written by Evan Gilman for Medium/ODC
”Taylor Joshua Rankin’s duet “Touch/Still” followed the intermission. Here, Stephen Harrison’s cello began with a strong lead-in, with sparse notes dropped in by Kate Campbell’s piano in support. This sprinkle of notes becomes a torrent of ornamentation, with only whispers coming from the cello as it fades back. The crushing dissonance of the pair comes into consonance as the whole keyboard slowly comes into use. And the cello echoes: the piece ends on whispered notes as all four strings are bowed in a gentle rocking motion. Rushes and languorous passages throughout brought to mind elements of nature — gentle rain building into a shower, birds flitting into greenery, and finally leaves falling slowly to the ground.”
Digital download of all performance materials including score and parts.
Score
