Shatter (2017)
clarinet in Bb
c. 4 minutes
Premiered by James Shields
Aasen-Hull Hall, Eugene, OR, 10 May 2017
c. 4 minutes
Premiered by James Shields
Aasen-Hull Hall, Eugene, OR, 10 May 2017
Shatter has two main sources of inspiration. I began to compose the piece the day that the majority of smoke detectors in my house reached the end of their battery life, resulting in a constant high pitched beep that continued for several days without a moment of reprieve. The persistence of the C#6 that sounds at the beginning of Shatter is thus a literal representation of the relentless beeping. I finished my composition under different and slightly less shrill circumstances. After I attended the Women’s March in Eugene, Oregon, in January 2017, the repeated high note and the contrasting quiet lower notes took on a new meaning to me. The dominating C#6 is forceful and oppressive, but the quiet lower motive gradually gains the strength and momentum necessary to rise above it. The postlude that follows is a quiet reflection of the struggle that precedes it. The work ends with four repeated notes reminiscent of the explosive four notes that opened the piece. This time, however, the notes are in the clarinet’s lowest register, and the original forcefulness has been replaced by a quiet, smoldering power and intensity.