Echoes of Isolation (2021)

For symphony orchestra
Duration: 10 minutes
Commissioned by Grinnell College

Program Note:

I started composing this piece at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic that shook the world, and although it is not a programmatic work, I can retrospectively find traces of what became a normal soundscape in New York under lockdown orders: the relentless ambulance sirens that echoed throughout the day and night and the unfailing 7 pm city-wide cheering for the essential workers that would ultimately give way to frustrated cries of millions of people living in isolation.

The piece opens with sustained pitches in winds and brass, at times overlapping to create a churning, slow-moving harmonic progression. The calm sonic landscape is abruptly disturbed by the percussive strings motive, bringing the section to a close highlighted by a bright chord in the vibraphone. In the middle section, an expressive, melodic theme builds up to a cacophony of overlapping glissandi conjuring the city sirens. The return of the lyrical theme, though extended and developed, leads to sustained harmonies and the strings’ percussive, short motive, creating a palindromic structure.

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