Written for The Progression Ensemble/Oslo.
Premiered August 28, 2019 in Friscena Gjøvik, Norway.
Time is the Sea We Swim In explores our complicated and changing relationship to time. How it can seem to speed up as we get older, or slow down during times of intense “being in the now”. I wanted to explore how elements of the music could serve as a metaphor. The overall form is an ashes-to-ashes crescendo-diminuendo. The music begins similarly with a slow breathing in and breathing out gesture. Cello emerges with a pleading call in high harmonics. Slow phrases speed to faster rhythmic patterns, and then twice as fast. Palindromes echo the crescendo-diminuendo form in miniature, for me, this gives a sense of something familiar, yet different this time, like memory. The music emerges from its dark/stark realities to life-affirming celebration and acceptance.
Also available in expanded version for violin, cello, and piano.
Perusal Scores, Sales, Rental Information or Order Music Online:
New Music Press