WHAT WE WISH TO REMEMBER OF OURSELVES (2021)
Fl, Ob, Cl/B. Cl, Bsn, Piano
Duration ca. 8:00
Score and parts set (one file). Score measures 8.5x11” (landscape orientation). Parts measure 8.5x11”.
PROGRAM NOTES
What We Wish to Remember of Ourselves was composed in Autumn, 2021, as the world – or at least the United States – was just beginning to emerge from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down life for much of the preceding two years. After a long hiatus, in-person concerts once again became a facet of everyday life. Like many others, I was weary of virtual musical events conducted over Zoom or YouTube, with their poor audio quality and limited interactivity. In this piece, I wanted to embrace the return to live, in-person listening by crafting something that was sonically immersive and which demanded constant communication between the performers. Consequently, much of the piece is not strictly metered – rather, the musicians are asked to listen and react to one another, crafting a musical environment that will be slightly different from performance to performance.
The title of the piece comes from a poem by Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, a collaborator who read her work at the piece's premiere.
Commissioned by Decoda and ICEBERG New Music. Premiered by Decoda at Tenri Cultural Institute, NYC (April 2022).
SCORE PREVIEW
