A trio for two clarinets and piano
Relative deprivation is a subjective psychological phenomenon: after comparing oneself with others, or with one’s own expectations, one feels deprived because reality falls short of the object of comparison.
Like a carefully written essay missing its final period, the gradual indifference of a partner in a relationship, or the realization that one’s hard-earned result still falls short of someone with extraordinary talent, people may only become more aware of what they truly want at the moment when an expectation is taken away.
In this piece, I tried to create expectation in different ways, then remove it just as it seems about to arrive. Through this process, I hoped listeners might become aware of the sound they were waiting for, and experience a kind of relative deprivation within the music itself.