MusicContemporary chamber ensemble
Seawater
A trilogy on water, yearning, and return
Water as symbol, sound, and spiritual orientation.
At a glance
- Composed
- 2025–26
- Forces
- Flute, oboe, clarinet in B♭, bassoon, horn in F, tuba, marimba, vibraphone, violin I, violin II, viola, violoncello, contrabass
- Duration
- c. 12′ (I–II)
- Movements
- I. Personhood (6′17″) · II. Yearning (5′32″) · III. Forthcoming
- Status
- Movements I and II complete; available for premiere
- Score
- Perusal PDF, free to download; parts on request
Listen
Program note
Seawater is a trilogy of pieces for contemporary chamber ensemble that take water as symbol, sound, and spiritual orientation — a journey from earthly delight, through disorientation and loss, toward a new orientation in imagination and spirit.
I. Personhood (6′17″). Trembling, open-voiced quartal harmonies and layered polyrhythms carry an ecstatic coming of age until the music is cut short by tragedy, mourning, and transformation.
II. Yearning (5′32″). A driving movement in 3+3+2 that culminates in a foreshadowed encounter with the Simorgh, the mythical bird of Persian poetry.
III. In progress.
The harmonies and rhythmic habits come from the guitar and are orchestrated outward: lines disperse into many voices, then converge in unison, like a tide going out and coming back.
For performers
What the score asks of the players, read from the engraved parts. The score is a working draft and some details may still change.
I. Personhood
- Tempo
- ♩ = 100
- Meter
- 4/4 throughout
- Key signature
- Three sharps (A major)
- Length
- 156 bars
- Marimba and vibraphone carry the trembling harmonies in rolled chords and measured tremolos for much of the movement.
- The strings move often between sul ponticello, sul tasto and ordinario, and between pizz. and arco.
- The dynamic floor is extremely low: the score asks for ppppp in places.
II. Yearning
- Tempo
- ♩ = 150
- Meter
- 4/4, felt as 3+3+2, with bars of 2/4 and 3/4
- Key signature
- Three flats
- Length
- 206 bars
- The 3+3+2 grouping drives the movement; triplet figures are layered against it.
- String harmonics appear throughout, and twelve fermatas shape the phrase endings.
- The marimba part moves between bass and treble clefs; the viola reads treble clef in its high passages. Violin II climbs to E♭7.
Score and parts
Downloads
Parts
Individual parts are sent on request. Tell me who is playing and when, and I will send the score and parts ready for rehearsal.
Images
Give Seawater its premiere
This piece is available for its first performance. If your ensemble would like to give it, I would love to hear from you. Or, if you would rather have something new, ask about a commission.
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