ENS.1999.1 | 1′
Bass Trombone, Viola, Cello
Anglaspis
In 1999 when this piece was composed the fossil halls at the American Museum of Natural History had recently reopened after a complete renovation, and during my frequent visits I was particularly drawn to the Hall of Vertebrate Origins with its strange early fish, oceangoing reptiles, pterosaurs, and unusual extinct lineages of protomammals and other odd creatures.
Among them can be found the heterostracan Anglaspis, a small jawless fish clad in protective armor. Fascinated at the time by miniatures of all kinds, I decided to title my tiny new piece after this tough but delicate species.
Scored for a midrange ensemble of trombone, viola, and cello, and lasting barely one minute in its entirety, each of Anglaspis’s three miniscule movements does precisely one thing a few times and then stops.