Instrumentation:
saxophone quartet
Duration:
9 mins.
Program notes:
Conceptual ideas tend to be an integral part of the way I write music. Usually, I have a conceptual framework before I start writing music, and this piece is a direct response to that, or rather, a much-needed departure from working on pieces with a heavier subject matter. For the first time in years, I wrote this piece thinking about sensations.
I grew up near the beach, and one of my favorite things to do as a kid was to submerge myself and feel the power of the waves or how the tide changed over time. These memories go from the extreme calmness of being underwater to the sensation of trying to swim against the current, to the fear I felt at a time when I got caught up by a powerful series of waves, and for the first time, I thought I might drown. All of these emotional and visceral memories seem to have left a very tactile memory in me, which still feels very present, and all of them seemed to have made their way into this piece.
