Going Up?

Going Up?
Composed by Martin Rokeach
for Flute, Viola, and Cello
Published by Alry Publications
Includes score and parts

Program Notes by Martin Rokeach:
      “Going Up?” was commissioned in 2007 by the New York trio Eight Strings and a Whistle and completed in 2008. To my ear, the material and energy of the piece continually pulls the listener upward, hence the title. There are three themes, all ascending, introduced in the first moments respectively by the flute as the piece opens, the pizzicato cello in measure 4, and the pizzicato cello again in measure 8. What should the listener make of all this upward momentum? Might there be some kind of emotional or spiritual meaning behind the notes? I don't know.