Edward Manukyan - Double Helix (dedicated to James Watson)

Excerpts from "Double Helix" by Edward Manukyan, performed by clarinetist Doug Storey and violinist Keith Redpath. Written as a birthday present to the great biologist James D. Watson, the instrumental duet Double Helix was completed a few weeks before Dr. Watson turned 80 (April 6, 2008). It is the second composition bearing the name of one of Manukyan's heroes. An earlier work, called "Triumph of Reason", was also dedicated to James Watson and Francis Chrick, both of who won the Nobel Prize in 1962 for discovering the structure of DNA. Double Helix starts off and finishes with interlocked arpeggiations, intended to represent a musical illustration of DNA structure (the double helix). The lyrical and thoughtful themes that emerge, played interchangeably by both instruments, gradually turn into a lively, cheerful duet, energized by the dance-like clarinet passages played against sharply articulated rhythmic motifs in the violin part. The publication of "Double Helix" is to be part of Manukyan's "Musical Tribute To Scientists and Other People of Reason" program/collection, in which there are dedications to other prominent scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, Steven Weinberg, Noam Chomsky, and Viktor Ambartsumian. The program was created to promote wider appreciation for sciences among music-loving audiences. Concert-presentations and lectures are organized within the framework of the program, in collaboration with musicians and scientists around the world. For more information and to learn how you can help us organize more events visit: http://www.edwardmanukyan.com/musical_tribute_to_scientists.html