Taste: Violin & Piano

Taste succeeds because it does something genuinely rare: two complete original works merge into a single, integrated composition without losing either voice. The collaboration between Saunders and Poppe creates an unusually sophisticated chamber work that rewards careful listening and reveals new relationships between the violin and piano parts with each rehearsal.

Taste inhabits a restless middle ground between lyrical expression and architectural precision. The texture shifts between moments of intimate musical conversation and passages where the instruments exist almost independently, creating tension that keeps the listener engaged across the full 20-minute span.

Advanced violinists and pianists seeking substantial contemporary repertoire that values both instrumental voices equally. This is appropriate for advanced students preparing for conservatory auditions, professional duos, and concert programming that features contemporary chamber music.

• Study the two original pieces separately first (Schmalz and Shadow) to understand what each composer's additions brought to the texture; this context deepens your interpretation of the final work.
• Pay attention to moments where the added instrumental part mirrors or responds to the original; these often mark the strongest musical ideas and deserve clarity in balance.
• The 20-minute length demands stamina and focus from both players. Build endurance gradually over several weeks of rehearsal rather than learning the full score immediately.
• Work with a rehearsal partner who understands your interpretive choices; contemporary works of this sophistication require genuine ensemble dialogue, not just technical coordination.

Program Taste on a recital devoted to contemporary chamber works, or pair it with 20th-century string and piano repertoire to frame a conversation about how composers continue to reimagine instrumental relationships. Its length and sophistication position it as a centerpiece rather than an opener or closer.

• Coordinating independent musical lines while maintaining unified ensemble pulse
• Interpreting contemporary notational practices and textural indications
• Sustaining concentration and expressive intention across extended single-movement forms
• Responding to a partner's interpretive choices in music without traditional harmonic scaffolding
• Understanding how timbre and gesture function as primary compositional elements