Songs from the Deep (for chamber orchestra)
(Duration: 12 mins)
Instrumentation:
2.2.2.2. – 2.2.0.0. – timp, percussion (1 player), Strings [at minimum 5.5.4.4.2 players]
(Two string quartets are pulled out from the tutti string sections and seated apart to create antiphonal effects).
Commissioned by the Oregon Mozart Players for the 2022 Sound Investment Commission, Songs from the Deep takes inspiration from whale song and ocean currents, an immersive experience juxtaposing noise and melody, stasis and motion, chaos with moments of sublime, ethereal beauty. Featuring antiphonal effects in the strings, aleatory and extended techniques, melodies drawing on Indian ornamentation, the work builds an immersive soundscape of water, movement, current and flow; of changing colors and shifting light; of wild voices emerging out of chaos.
Flash, Shimmer, Glow, Spark
Duration 4 mins
2.2.2.2. – 4.2.3(3=B. Trb).1(Tuba optional). – timp, percussion (2 players), Harp, Strings
One of the most fascinating elements of biodiversity on our planet is convergent evolution – where various organisms independently evolve similar traits. Bioluminescence is my favorite example of this – glowworms, fireflies, bioluminescent algae, deep sea jellies and fish and worms and squid – all creating light in various ways and for various purposes, each bringing a different play of light into the dark. A fanfare and celebration of all these wild and stunning forms of luminescence, Flash, Shimmer, Glow, Spark juxtaposes different types of orchestral light – sounds that shimmer and simmer, that glint and glow, that flutter and wink and flicker barely at the edge of your vision.
To Call the Rain
Duration 9 mins
2.2.2.0. – 2.2.0.0. – timp, percussion (3 players), Harp, Strings (at least 3 of the players need to have instruments that extend the range down to low C)
There is a tradition in Hindustani (North Indian) classical music of Malhar ragas, of music that – when played with intention and inspiration – holds the capacity to invoke rain. To Call the Rain imagines this ritual in orchestral sound. Solo strings play delicate melodies drawing upon one of the ragas, and the orchestra reacts in vivid colour, responding to the call. What begins as a melodic voice grows from gentle patter to downpour, as movement and flow, drops and ripples and lush textures fill the space.
Where Shadow Chases Light
(Duration: 15 mins)
Instrumentation: 2[2/picc.]-2-2-2/4-3-3-1/timp+3 perc/harp+piano/strings
Where Shadow Chases Light combines gestures from the composer’s Indian musical background with a form built around shifting bands of orchestral color. Using ragas, improvisatory melodies, elaborate ornamentation and rich, multi-layered textures, the work evokes vast, shifting landscapes of stark black and white.
In The Pocket
(Duration: 4 mins)
Instrumentation: 1-1-1-0/1-1-1-0/2 perc/piano/strings (minimum 3 per part)
A driving and exuberant concert opener playing with the duality of the phrase “In the Pocket” in jazz and in surfing.