Commissioned by the Aurora Trio with funds from the RVW Trust, 'Six takes on Tosca' is a set of six variations on a theme from Puccini's Tosca (Act II, Scene I), where a trio of flute, viola and harp provide the impression of a nearby orchestra performing a quaint gavotte. The idea to write a set of variations on this theme was suggested to me by Joe Bronstein (Viola), and after a somewhat cautious period I began to engage with the material on a miniature-motivic level, expanding or improvising on small fragments.
