Behind the Light

behind the light

 

for string quartet and electronics

year: 2011

duration: 15:00 min

studio: Harvard University

dedicated to my father

first performance: November 16, 2011 by Chiara Quartet , Sanders Theatre, Cambridge MA

 

 

behind the light is a reflection on reflections. What surfaces are capable of reflecting incoming light? How does this alter color and how do the qualities of the reflections change the visual atmosphere? behind the light is an exploration of the relationship between source and multiplication. I took the flickering quality of sunlight on a river, the neutral atmosphere of light tubes in a hallway, or the moving shadows created by a burning candle, and reimagined them in the musical world. They inspired relationships between sonic atmospheres and the explorations of a string quartet and electronics. I’m interested in concepts of verticality and horizontality: the quartet and electronics often develop their individual wanderings for short periods of time, but are then resynchronized by strong vertical events. The electronics were composed of shorter sequences, recorded with the Chiara Quartet, and then manipulated in the studio.