In Crystallized Time (2023)

DURATION
8 minutes

INSTRUMENTATION
orchestra

*Commissioned by the 2023 Aspen Music Festival

Recording: Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra Reading, 2024 Tanglewood Music Festival

August 14, 2024 Seiji Ozawa Hall, 297 West St, Lenox, MA 01240

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Program Notes:

I had a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with carillonist Carson Landry to compose a new work for the carillon as part of the GCNA Grant. As I listened to the sound of the carillon traveling across the campus, I was fascinated by how its music became a part of everyone’s daily lives. I was also inspired by the wide range of timbres across the instrument’s registers. The hollowness and mellow tone of the deep lower register created a mood of darkness, while the contrasting smaller bells in the upper register produced a bright, crystal-like sound. For "In Crystallized Time", an orchestral work commissioned by the 2023 Aspen Music Festival, I aimed to recreate the sound of the carillon as the clocktower within the orchestra. The tubular bells, paired with the bass drum in the percussion section, emphasized the carillon bells' sound. The melodies in the woodwinds and strings, combined with the glockenspiel, vibraphone, harp, and piano, featured a recurring clock motif representing ‘Frozen Time.’