Orchestration

version for harp and electronics (arrangement from the version for piano and electronics)

Duration

7-8 minutes

Commissioned by/Premiere

The version for harp was premiered by Chelsea Lane at Elebash Recital Hall at The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY on April 6, 2022

Score

Purchase from Project Schott New York

Listen

Electronics:

Contact Me

Note

Named for the subway station in Brooklyn where I have spent many nights waiting for the train, Hoyt-Schermerhorn is a tribute to the New York night-scape. The piece explores the myriad and contradictory feelings that come to me late at night in my city of choice—nostalgia, anxiety, joy, panic.

Hoyt-Schermerhorn was originally conceived as a graphic score for piano and electronics; the pianist was allowed to choose notes at the beginning of the piece. Those sonorities were slowly replaced by my own specifications as the chorale entered midway through. By doing this, I was trying to capture a kind of automatic or intuitive texture, but after hearing the first performance, I realized that in order to realize my desire I would have to work quite intensely and diligently to create what sounded like effortless improvisation. As the piece progresses, it slowly transforms into a soft and gentle lullaby, with the shatter of fragmented electronics breaking the quiet haze. Later, when asked about arranging the work for the harp; it seemed like a natural fit, as the instrument is capable of such delicate and beautiful color and resonance. 

Hoyt–Schermerhorn is dedicated to Yegor Shevtsov, for whom I composed the work. The version for harp was created in collaboration with Chelsea Lane.