notes for WATERCOLORS
I was asked for program notes for WATERCOLORS, so I figured I'd share them here:
Water -- such a simple blessing, but it is absolutely essential to sustaining life. In writing this piece, my hope was that this collection of sketches would remind us how precious the gift of water is to every living thing on our planet.
ECHOES OF SUN AND ICE - I used a jagged melodic line with large intervals and open quartal harmony to musically recreate the grandeur of a glacier-topped mountain range -- the big, bombastic brass and percussion probably helps too. My inspiration came from a ski trip in the Canadian Rockies.
MOON OVER TWILIGHT LAKE - The basis of this melody came from an early piece I wrote for bass clarinet, 'cello, and marimba. I've always liked the tune, and I thought it's folk simplicity and melancholy tone would fit well with this collection. This piece always reminds me of a very placid mountain lake near Aspen, Colorado... but the actual Twilight Lake only exists in my imagination.
RAINDROPS HANG FROM A SPIDER'S WEB - When it came time to create this collection, this was the first sketch I started, and the last one I finished. It wasn't that the process took a long time, it was that every iteration just wasn't quite right -- I knew what I wanted to achieve, but it took a while to quiet my mind so that I could hear it. Nature will always reveal it's elegant, intricate, yet simple patterns to anyone who takes the time to notice.
CAST ADRIFT ON A STORMY SEA - My dad is a sailor; so is my uncle, and my grandfather... I suspect you could trace it even further back in my bloodline. When it came to writing a collection of pieces revolving around water themes, there was no question that one of them had to involve a respectful homage to the awesome power of the ocean.
REFLECTIONS IN A TIDAL POOL - I wrote this while I was staying on the beach of a small island in Mexico - every morning I'd write for a few hours before the day's adventures began. Writing this became my oasis of introspection; a meditative moment to listen to the waves on the shore, smell the fresh sea breeze that moved through the diaphanous curtains, and feel the rise and fall of my breath.
Water -- such a simple blessing, but it is absolutely essential to sustaining life. In writing this piece, my hope was that this collection of sketches would remind us how precious the gift of water is to every living thing on our planet.
ECHOES OF SUN AND ICE - I used a jagged melodic line with large intervals and open quartal harmony to musically recreate the grandeur of a glacier-topped mountain range -- the big, bombastic brass and percussion probably helps too. My inspiration came from a ski trip in the Canadian Rockies.
MOON OVER TWILIGHT LAKE - The basis of this melody came from an early piece I wrote for bass clarinet, 'cello, and marimba. I've always liked the tune, and I thought it's folk simplicity and melancholy tone would fit well with this collection. This piece always reminds me of a very placid mountain lake near Aspen, Colorado... but the actual Twilight Lake only exists in my imagination.
RAINDROPS HANG FROM A SPIDER'S WEB - When it came time to create this collection, this was the first sketch I started, and the last one I finished. It wasn't that the process took a long time, it was that every iteration just wasn't quite right -- I knew what I wanted to achieve, but it took a while to quiet my mind so that I could hear it. Nature will always reveal it's elegant, intricate, yet simple patterns to anyone who takes the time to notice.
CAST ADRIFT ON A STORMY SEA - My dad is a sailor; so is my uncle, and my grandfather... I suspect you could trace it even further back in my bloodline. When it came to writing a collection of pieces revolving around water themes, there was no question that one of them had to involve a respectful homage to the awesome power of the ocean.
REFLECTIONS IN A TIDAL POOL - I wrote this while I was staying on the beach of a small island in Mexico - every morning I'd write for a few hours before the day's adventures began. Writing this became my oasis of introspection; a meditative moment to listen to the waves on the shore, smell the fresh sea breeze that moved through the diaphanous curtains, and feel the rise and fall of my breath.
1 Comments:
you used the word BOMBASTIC! I love it.
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