let a new earth rise. let another world be born. let a bloody peace be written in the sky (2023)

for string quartet or flexible instrumentation

Premiere:

Premiered on August 23, 2023 at lunita loft in brooklyn, ny by diaphanous ensemble.

vlns: che buford, aimée niemann

vla: abby swidler

cello: kirin mcelwain

Duration:

9 minutes

Program Note:

Written during the summer of 2023

“let a new earth rise. let another world be born. let bloody peace be written in the sky.’’ takes its name from the last stanza of Margaret Walker’s powerful poem, ‘For My People.’ My piece reckons with recent and ongoing realities of life in America. The work is comprised of three parts and uses various graphic and cellular notations to guide the music.

The first movement, dust, air, and smoke, reflects on our heightened concern with air over the past three years—beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, the precarious air quality caused by the Canadian wildfires. The score is a painting I created, showing an image that might be interpreted as wind, particles, or atmospheric disturbances gradually collecting into something unearthly. I was interested in juxtaposing what is ugly, toxic, and murky with something that might also appear “pretty.”

The second movement, ordinary trauma, reflects on the setbacks we faced in 2023, as Supreme Court decisions threatened the rights and safety of queer people. The music inhabits a space of solemness, pensiveness, and grief, with drone-like textures and a descending motif shared among all the players.

The final movement, maybe we can invent something; I’d like a new way of experiencing the world, turns toward the importance of community and the possibility of safety and renewal. It asks how we might invent new ways of being together.