Liminal Structures

In the week that this piece was composed, I found myself as an audience to the ongoing demolition of the building directly next to my apartment. A process which began a full month before as unseen clamoring of building being reduced to rubble had now revealed a visual spectacle from within feet of my only windows. This transformation of a brick wall that previously served as my only view of the outside world inevitably forced its way into defining the content of Liminal Structures.

The piece is inspired in various ways by this environment and experience as a whole. Some literal demolition of both melodic ideas and cramped harmonic structures occurs throughout the short duration, but there is also a mix of awe, discovery, and fleeting but ever-changing beauty that underpins the somewhat noisy exterior. In short, it aims to capture both the withering architecture and the human experience of being its light-sleeping neighbor. Culminating in a rather concise reflection for a 10-player sinfonietta, Liminal Structures is also an exploration of orchestrating various timbral ‘colors’ – hoping in some way to capture the vibrant newfound hues I could witness cast upon the building’s bare concrete, steel girders, and piles of shattered bricks in the early morning and dusk.

Written in gratitude to Christopher Theofanidis, David Allen Miller, and the sinfonietta musicians of the Albany Symphony for their willingness and generosity throughout the duration of our collaborative workshop in June 2023.

Commissioned by the Albany (NY) Symphony Orchestra

Performance Time: 3’15”

Scored for : oboe, clarinet (A), bassoon, horn, piano, 2 violins, viola, ‘cello, and double bass