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String Quartet
2023
- Program Notes
- During the summer of 2023 I had the pleasure of teaching at Camp Pemigewassett in New Hampshire. On my morning treks out of my cabin in June and early July I would encounter Luna moths idling on window screens. They were striking and unique; their color pallets consist of soft greens and whites, and the male’s pheromone antennae appear like forest ferns. I was further moved by discovering that these moths essentially spend most of their lives in gestation. They spend weeks in various stages of development, yet their adult life lasts roughly one week. It reminded me of a process “coded” into nature that exerts so much time and energy growing toward something so fleeting, as if the meaning of life lies in those brief moments that are supercharged with essential value. Is most of life and its vast stretches of struggle and/or banality just preparation, a rehearsal for the true act, which itself is gone in just a moment? My goal was to create music that carefully constructs itself “out of the dust”, like something from nothing, struggles to be born, and in doing so, defines itself and relishes in its fragility before it dies. Luna was composed between October and November 2023 for a Hartt School commissioning project for the Dali string quartet. My deepest gratitude to the Quartet, Dr. Gilda Lyons, and my teacher Dr. Lembit Beecher for facilitating this collaboration and their help in its composition.
- Performer Credits
- Dali Quartet