“The idea of being on the verge of extremity but not crossing it is appealing to me,” wrote the wildly imaginative composer Sebastian Currier; “it seems like an ideal place to be, both in life and art.” That notion animates this program’s featured work, Currier’s scintillating, sizzling “Verge,” for clarinet, violin, and piano. The piece, which has become something of a modern classic in the nearly-25 years since it was written, “has its roots in a vignette from Robert Schumann’s classic 19th-century suite, “Kinderszenen” (Scenes from Childhood). Schumann’s curious title of that little piece, “Almost Too Serious,” suggests that there is an aesthetic boundary which, although it may be approached, should not be crossed.

Currier, winner of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award (for a Music from Copland House commission), was inspired to write his own, much more elaborate piece that was prompted by that precarious sense of balance; “Verge” courts danger on every page by visiting the brink of speed, intensity, cohesiveness, and inaudibility. “Each of the nine movements,” the composer explained, “stands on the edge of excess, and I use the phrase borrowed from Schumann to describe them.”

Music from Copland House featured artists: Moran Katz, clarinet; Curtis Macomber, violin; Michael Boriskin, piano.