The Texture of Air

Whitney Sheng

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Duo

2026

Cello

Violin

Program Notes: The Texture of Air draws from the architectural light in Szelit Cheung's paintings—works that dwell in charged stillness between seeing and reckoning, of meaning held just out of reach. Rather than depicting light directly, the music turns toward what reveals it: the medium through which light becomes visible. Dust and particles render light's path luminous. By omitting the word light from the title, the piece invites the listener to Ɲnd illumination for themselves—not in the source, but in the atmosphere it touches. The piece begins in suspension—air sound, fragile harmonics, whispering textures outlining a darkness alive with potential. As motion gathers slowly, the violin and cello trace resonant nodes and ƞute-like whistles until fractured brightness breaks through. When the music falls back into quieter terrain, it carries the imprint of what preceded it. Scattered pizzicati ƞicker like dust catching a last glint. The lines climb higher, fainter, until the resonance thins into something barely held—an image of brightness dispersing, leaving only the air through which it once traveled.
Performer Credits: Emma Meinrenken, Joseph Staten
Publisher: Whitney Sheng (ASCAP)