Derrière les ennuis (2013)
flute, bassoon, horn, cello
c. 5 minutes 15 seconds
Premiered by Emily Yoo (flute), Owen Carlos (bassoon), Brenna Giazzon (horn), Marina Ito (cello)
Lily Hall, Indianapolis, IN, 21 November 2013
c. 5 minutes 15 seconds
Premiered by Emily Yoo (flute), Owen Carlos (bassoon), Brenna Giazzon (horn), Marina Ito (cello)
Lily Hall, Indianapolis, IN, 21 November 2013
Written for the JCA Composers’ Orchestra’s 2013 Haiti Benefit Concert, Derrière les ennuis is a quiet prayer for the people of Haiti. The title is taken from Charles Baudelaire’s poem “Élévation” (1857). Although the title literally means “behind boredoms,” in the context of the poem it refers to the soul’s surpassing of worldly struggles. In the first minute of music, each instrument enters separately, improvising on a given note or notes. The music steadily grows more chaotic until the cello breaks through the tumult in a passionate solo. As the cello’s last note fades, the other instruments begin to play one by one, and the rest of the piece features melodic lines that are passed between them. The four instruments never enter simultaneously until the very end of the piece, when they join together in one final chord. The power of this moment is broken at the last minute, for the flute breaks away from the group and reenters a step higher. The resulting chord is more dissonant than the previous one, leaving the listener with a sense of unease and awareness that further efforts to come together must still be made.