The structural fragmentation in Zwilich’s Millennium Fantasy

Abstract

This study explores Zwilich’s Millennium Fantasy (2000), which not only exemplifies the nature of Zwilich’s personal creativity, but also reveals different musical influences on the composer. In her music Zwilich employs a variety of techniques to promote different playful impressions and surprises. The continuous playing of tricks on listeners throughout the two movements is one of the musical characters of the piece. In most cases, the sense of fragmentation created in the composition also results from Zwilich’s playful musical construction. In addition, jazz, popular and traditional idioms are nicely and evenly treated in the composition; the composition is not confined to one musical style. This piece might serve as a model of the perfect balance which Zwilich strikes between traditional and popular styles.