Then, Again

Justin Wright

36 views

Sinfonietta

2023

9 min.

Program Notes: I began writing this piece in a pool of lethargy, jotting down a few chords just before a first sketch was due as I lay on my couch, determined not to let a great opportunity go to waste. I had a pretty good excuse though, having just completed a few months of chemotherapy and dreading the upcoming surgery that would get all the last little cancerous bits out of my abdomen. I originally intended to give this piece a fresh start once I got my energy back, but instead decided to challenge myself to wrangle those measly chords into the foundation of the work by whatever means necessary. I wrote the bulk of this piece traveling around France and Italy, visiting ancient monasteries, cathedrals, and ruins, somehow even getting a weekend of chant lessons with the GOAT Marcel Pérès. Feeling inspired, I adapted Hildegard von Bingen’s O Pastor Animarum as the melody for the piece as a way to connect the past - both distant past, and a part of my life that already feels like distant past - to the present.
Ensemble Name: Alarm Will Sound, Charlotte Mundy