The busy summer season continues unabated! Following the recent premieres of Inner Truth in Chicago and City Lights in Valencia, Spain, I am pleased to share news of the premiere of my latest work, Resonant Memories, for carillon, by University of Michigan faculty carillonist, Tiffany Ng. Tiffany will premiere the work on July 27 at Middlebury College, with subsequent performances at Norwich University and Albany City Hall. As always, full information about upcoming performances and other activities can be found here.

In imagining my first composition for carillon, I found myself returning again and again to the the ephemeral quality of the instrument’s sound.  No matter how large or powerful the initial attack–whether single note or complex chord–it instantly began to fade away.  There was an aspect of inevitable disappearance that I found intriguing and that suggested a certain musical character I wanted to explore.

The work is cast in three broad sections, opening with a declamatory statement that quickly becomes more introspective as it moves to the instrument’s high register.  The contrasting middle section, marked energico, is characterized by continuous rhythmic activity, a series of accelerando phrases, and prominent use of the instrument’s low register.  The final section returns to the opening material, but it is here–quietly–that the “memories” part of the title presents itself, as slow, fading versions of the opening mix with brief interjections of the middle material.  Despite this generally hazy, dreamlike character, the work concludes with a grand, defiant gesture, spanning the instrument’s whole range and dynamic potential.

Because of my upcoming residency at Copland House, I will not be able to attend these performances. However, I eagerly await the recording and would like to thank Tiffany for her tireless support of my music and the music of numerous living composers.  Resonant Memories is dedicated to her.