| A pentacle is a star-shaped figure formed by extending the five sides of a pentagon. In magic, such a figure is used both as a symbol and as an enclosure within which spells are enacted. The five sections of my Pentacle define a musical space within which, by repetition and variation, a few basic elements take on a meaning which transcends their individual significance.
The violin and cello play together in the odd-numbered sections, while the
even-numbered ones are, respectively, a grave and passionate meditation for
cello, and a frenzied toccata for violin. The finale section begins as imaginary
folk-music but ends aggressively. Pentacle , composed in the first
months of 2000, is dedicated to Gillian Williams and Arun Rao, who commissioned
it and first performed it in Dublin’s Hugh Lane Gallery in September 2001. 
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