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This piece takes the form of an imaginary dialogue between solo cello and orchestra. The ‘remark’ of the title is represented by the simple four-note ascending motif first heard in the opening bars in the string quartet accompaniment. This motif takes prominence in the violins as the orchestra takes up the theme. The quasi-improvisatory solo cello passages that separate the reiterations of this main theme are continuations of the conversation as the cello tries to answer the same remark in differing, ever more animated ways.
But always the remark is the same—implacably embedded in the memory. The piece finishes with a final statement of the main theme answered by a despairing fragment of the cello’s answering phrase.
from notes by Mike Sheppard © 2010