Filles, Failles, Faux Femmes, for clarinet quartet, is admittedly a shameless pun: spoken aloud, the title sounds like the phrase “Fee-fi-fo-fum,” famously bellowed by the giant in the classic fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk. As a collection of (somewhat unrelated) French words, meanwhile, it can loosely translate to “girls, rifts, false women.” Both versions conjure fairytale imagery, whether of giants, sirens, earthquakes, castles in the clouds, or damsels in distress. Thus, the music of Filles, Failles, Faux Femmes is a kind of accompaniment to a nonexistent fairy tale. Its “chapters” may suggest any number of fantastic wonders or perils, without detailing specific plot points. Filles, Failles, Faux Femmes was written in 2014, and premiered by the clarinetists of the 15.19 Ensemble at the 2014 highSCORE Festival in Pavia, Italy.
Recording: Joey Miller, Mallorie Stringfellow, Luke Ellard, and Nick Morandi, clarinets (Bloomington, Indiana, 2014)
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