DAYS INTO DAYS (2011)
Soprano, 3 fl, 3 perc, 2 piano, celesta, harp, vcl solo, strings
Duration ca. 12:00
PROGRAM NOTES
Days Into Days is a meditation on the palindromic nature of life. All of us are born small and weak. We grow larger and stronger. And then, even if everything goes perfectly, we grow small and weak again before departing life. Existence, in a way, forms a natural arch form; this composition reflects that on multiple levels, creating an arch form based on multiple palindromic motives and sounds meant to emulate the ticking and chiming of clocks.
An extended coda utilizes text from Louisa May Alcott’s Transfiguration:
We thought to weep, but sang for joy instead;
Filled with the grateful peace that follows [sweet] release,
For nothing but the weary dust lies dead.
Mysterious death! Who in a single hour
Life’s gold can so refine, and by thy art divine
Turn mortal being to immortal pow’r!
Premiered by Charlotte Mundy (soprano) and Andrew Yu (cello) with students from Manhattan School of Music in Greenfield Hall, New York, NY (April 2011).
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