Fatal Cold Swim is a trio scored for guitar, flute and viola. It is an elegy meant to commemorate the life of a close relative of the composer who died tragically in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The trio is in ABA’ form. It starts with a haunting melody played by the flute and echoed by the viola’s counter melody, equally as heart wrenching. A faster Andante section follows with familiar material being reworked and varied. This is followed by a short but harmonically charged cadenza played by the guitar.
The mood of the piece then changes and we are introduced to a bright lively theme in the Presto section. This section is meant to personnify the joyful and full of life character of our subject. It is short lived as we are sooner back into the sad atmosphere of the opening theme, this time played by the viola. Here the rich harmonies of the guitar add tension to the piece. The tremolo of the guitar along with the incessant trills of the viola bring the piece to a tragic end. We are left with three fading notes played by the viola.
