In loving memory of Gazelle.
In loving memory of Gazelle.
The Suite for Two Violins began as a single movement—the Lamento sopra la morte d'un gatto dilettissimo ("La Gazzelina"), which Dillon Ford composed on 6–7 May 2006 for his friend, Anthony Fusco, a first violinist with the Florida Orchestra. The remaining movements were completed before 19 June of the same year, all for the purpose of consoling Fusco over the recent death of his long-time feline companion, Gazelle.
Although most movements in the suite are written in the baroque style of Bach and Handel, the influences of Mozart and Beethoven are also much in evidence, particularly in the long sarabande and brisk finale. The two-voice polyphonic texture was chosen as a means of evoking the warm and often playful relationship between Mr. Fusco and his cat.
The allemande, courante, sarabande, lamento (a siciliano), and duetto follow the baroque dance form of two repeated sections, modulating during the first to the dominant or relative major, then returning to the home key of g minor by the end of the second. The short hornpipe and polacca are in a-b-a form, while the gigue-like finale is actually a rare two-voice fugue. The movements may be played individually or as a continuous suite.