New Addresses
(2020)Orchestration
for flute, bass clarinet, violin, and cello
Duration
10 minutes
Commissioned by/Premiere
Premiered via livestream with Arizona Friends of Chamber Music on January 16, 2021
Commissioned by Hub New Music with co-commissioners Friends of Chamber Music Denver and Ashmont Hill Chamber Music
Score
Purchase from Project Schott New York
Peruse on Issuu
Note
The title New Addresses was suggested by a collection of poetry by Kenneth Koch, a member of the much-beloved New York School. I was inspired by the emotional immediacy of Koch’s work and wanted to echo that in my quartet for the fabulous Boston-based quartet, Hub New Music. The poems in Koch’s collection are addressed, in the second person, to a specific object or person of interest (‘The Italian Language,’ ‘My Father’s Business,’ ‘Piano Lessons’).
“Each of the three interconnected movements in New Addresses are inspired by one of the poems from the eponymous collection. The first, ‘To Breath,’ features the insisting chuffing of the flutist. The second ‘To My Heart at the Close of Day’ evokes, via a long violin solo, the protagonist’s melancholic mood at dusk. And the last, ‘To “Yes,”’ is a rhythmic, energetic march that insists—affirmatively—on the same note. It is dedicated, with affection, to Hub.