Trinkle Dance
Trinkle Dance arose out of an assignment from a composition class with Anthony Kelley. The assignment was to write a dance, in giving the instructions for the assignment, Anthony said something a long the lines of
If you want to use an existing dance rhythm, that's fine, or if you come up with your own dance rhythm, and call it a "trinkle" dance, that's okay too.
I came up with my own dance rhythms, and, in search of a name, took my professor's advice and dubbed it a "trinkle." One of my classmates, Ben Crawford, turned around and paid tribute to my new dance style with his composition for the same assignment, Dance in Arch Form, With Homage on B-A-C-H, and a Bad-Ass Trinkle B Section. At least, I think that's the title of it. And then I incorporated a trinkle into another composition, Ude, Ude O. So the "trinkle" is not merely a one-off production, but an established form. Take that!
So, what is a "trinkle" dance? Well, it's built on top of a motoric ostinato in 6/8 or 12/8 time. It's got lots of cross-rhythms against the time, and periodic interruptions. With these characteristics in mind, I was able to go back in time and retcon some trinkles into the established literature, going at least as far back as the "Witches' Trinkle Dance" from the final movement of Symphony Fantastique. Who knew Berlioz was that hip? Anyway, back to Earth-616.
After writing two trinkles in a period of six months or so, I thought I was going to make the trinkle one of my trademarks, but that never really seemed to happen. I had a couple of sketches for trinkle ground rhythms, but nothing that coalesced into a longer piece. With my recent interest in metametrics, though, the cross-rhythms of the trinkle seem like a nice starting point for further rhythmic explorations. Maybe it's time to revisit the idea?
I did subsequently reuse the original Trinkle Dance as the last movement of my Bass Trombone Sonata, merely adding an introduction for a better segue from the second movement. This is the version heard in the recording above; the original version starts right when the piano begins to repeat the basic pattern in the left hand. I have to admit that Trinkle Dance is rather hard on the pianist, as the left hand never gets a break, but the relentless pattern in the bass is one of the essential features of the trinkle. My getting slightly lost in the trio section is not one of the essential features.
