This piece was completed in the fall of 2020 and was the final piece I finished before taking an extended hiatus from music due to the covid-19 pandemic. It is a meditation on the repetitive nature of daily life particularly during quarantine and isolation but can be expanded more general to “typical” life.
In Norse mythology Fólkvangr is a meadow ruled over by the goddess Freyja. Literally translated “field of the host” this meadow is where half of those that die in combat go upon their death. This piece begins with a programmatic approach, playing with the literary concept of “in media res,” the listener is thrown into the middle of things as the horn is struggling to stay above the rumbling accompaniment in the piano. The music then takes a sharp turn and the piece becomes about traversing an unknown landscape. A chaconne in the piano lays a foundation on which the horn slowly wanders.
To me this piece is not literally about death, but rather about trauma. Trauma comes in many forms but everybody who experiences it in some form shares a common scar. After a long journey the music finally settles into something more peaceful, but the piano is still influenced by the opening chords of the chaconne.
The creation of my second string quartet has been the longest musical journey of my life to date. I began writing it in the spring of 2016 and completed it in the spring of 2019. Subtitled, there is no place, this work encompasses a period of significant turbulence and change in my life. During that three year time span I moved from Baltimore to Austin and from Austin to Durham. And in the fall of 2018 I was diagnosed with HIV, something that felt more unfair to me than anything else in the world at that moment.
status:Reactive was written in the fall of 2018 immediately following my HIV diagnosis. I decided to use my viral load as a pitch set and then derived the musical materials from the result. This music has a sense of urgency, a sense that no matter what you have to move forward, because staying still means being ripped apart from the inside.
tie me down was composed in the spring of 2016 but I later made significant revisions to this movement. This music takes a break from the internal conflict of the surrounding movements but has its own frantic energy. To me there is something almost painful in the way that the quartet is pulling forward only to be constantly slowed down. The final rush of energy of this movement leads us to the edge of the abyss.
there is no place was completed in January of 2019 and is the centerpiece of this work. This music is once again about an internal conflict, if there is one recurring theme of this work it is the idea of being torn apart from different directions. The long lyrical melody presented at the start fights against the more aggressive gestures that begin to overtake the work. A final coda by the viola displays the slightest sense of optimism, maybe there is a way to hold on through everything.
a harsh reminder why brings us to the conclusion of the work. The quartet begins with a rushing pizzicato gesture that has a constantly shifting pulse. This music is full of energy, despite some left over aggression from the previous movements there is a real sense of hope. The quartet races forward excitedly until it slams head first into a brick wall, a harsh reminder. The harsh reminder that I received when I was diagnosed with HIV, to never become complacent. A reminder that despite plans and hard work things can just go off the tracks sometimes.
for English Horn and Piano
In Greek mythology Acheron is known as the river of woe which divided the world of the living from the underworld. I use that perspective of the river in this piece to inform a vague narrative about the passage from life to death. The piano represents the river as an allegory for the passage of time. It provides a constant source of forward motion across all four movements. The english horn on the other hand serves as a kind of character at the center of this vague narrative. This piece isn't tragic just a random pondering of the nature of death and its inherent place in the cycle of life.
for Clarinet Choir
Tapestry No. 1 is the first in a planned (plan in the loosest sense of the word) series of pieces for various homogenous ensembles. This piece is based on the idea of layering simple lines of music to create a more complex image much like the process of weaving a tapestry. The mood of the pieces is inspired by a quote from Faulkner's As I Lay Dying.
"How often I have lain on a strange roof, thinking of home."
for Lead Steelpan and Cello
Written for Mike Schwebke
This piece follows a recent trend of mine to attempt to reflect daily life in music. It is an expression of my frustration with the shallowness of so may interpersonal relationships in my and other people's lives. Social media has changed our interactions in way where it is almost unacceptable to be anything less than "fine, ok, good." We present the most perfect version of ourselves whenever possible. The primary compositional premise of this piece is two instruments engaging in a dialogue. The dialogue begins quite superficially with the steel pan and cello essentially imitating each other. Once the tempo picks up the two instruments begin to develop each other's ideas finally settling into different but complementary roles.