Remembrance

For String Quartet
Duration: 12 minutes

The events of the past year have all but revolved around the Coronavirus and the pandemic it has caused. While the world – and all we hold dear – has coming to a startling halt, the virus has been actively wreaking havoc from coast to coast and from home to home. It is likened to a “thief in the night” or a silent assassin among us. We have all undoubtedly felt the enormity of its presence and will be forever changed for having lived through this time. It is such a numbing experience to feel this helpless during a period of extraordinary change. Daily death tallies, arguments about the necessity of quarantining and wearing face masks, and incessant hand washing are things that we have normalized.

I found myself near the front line working through the initial shutdown in roles that were customer facing. It afforded me the chance to see both the best and worst of humanity. Shouting matches over how to correctly wear masks and complaints about social distancing have becoming commonplace. I have also witnessed defining moments like gifting someone the last of your hand sanitizer or bringing food or other needed goods to families struggling with the effects of Covid-19. These acts illustrate the hope that we still have. If we are to continue to thrive, we must work through these indifferences for the common good of all: This work is dedicated to hope.

Remembrance is based largely around one “memory,” or my attempt to recreate a memory through the lenses of loss. We have all experience some form of loss, some more or less directly/indirectly as a result of Covid-19. That could be the loss of a loved one, of a job, of the feeling of stability, of mental health, or of something as simple as freedom to live without fear. This piece seeks to remember that which we hold dear. Memories fade with time or become less clear the farther away we move from them.

Movement I is my best attempt to embody the feeling of quarantining. The opening block chords represent the walls closing in around us, which (in time) leads to a sense of unraveling. The movement gradually shifts from a very vertical, homophonic texture to a more disjointed, unsettled one. Movement II is largely spent trying to wade through a flood of emotions to focus clearly on a memory that finally becomes clear at rehearsal “I.” With the slow shifting chordal material, it slowly unravels again into angst before becoming resolute at the end, if not hopeful.

Remembrance was premiered by Harlem Quartet as a part of the Michigan State University Entrepreneurial Musical Artist in Residence Program on April 13, 2021.