[Instrumental] [Intro: solo contrabass clarinet, dry and close, breath before each note, motif alone] [Verse 1: motif repeats with displaced accent, long unequal rest, delayed re-entry] [Low strings enter sul ponticello beneath a held note, pitch drifting flat] [One bowed metal stroke, then silence] [Break: motif fragments, clarinet cracks high, phrase unfinished] [Dry ticking and skittering wood, off the beat] [Build: chromatic rise, agitation growing] [Low brass enters, quiet dissonance] [Conflicting counterlines crowd the motif] [Brief surge, immediate pullback] [Climax: motif nearly buried, clarinet strained at the top of its range] [Collapse: strings drop out, then brass, then percussion] [Clarinet alone, low, breath-heavy, pitch sagging] [Outro: incomplete final phrase, one low note decaying to room tone] [End]
