Instrumentation
English horn, viola, harp, and percussion
Duration
6 minutes
Program Note
I tend to think of myself as a very “literary” composer, in that many of my works either incorporate text, or have their genesis in text. In the case of this piece, the title was adapted from a line in the poem “Homewrecker”, by Ocean Vuong. While the poem as a whole is about two people falling in love, I was drawn to this particular line’s suggestions of insignificance and futility, and how that might be applicable to our current time (the poem is now almost ten years old).
That said, this is not a piece written from a place of despair, nor is the overall affect melancholy. From a fragmented beginning, a sweeping melody gradually coalesces, before falling apart once again into fragmentation. Initially I considered ending the work at this point, but the idea of an ecstatic, shimmering finale seemed more appealing, and so the work took on its final form, culminating in a permutation of the central melody amidst ringing figures in the ensemble.
a year is a distance travelled in circles was composed for and premiered at the 2022 Mostly Modern Festival (Saratoga Springs, NY).
Selected Performances
American Modern Ensemble; William Cabison, conductor
June 17, 2022
Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, NY)
Tristan Wilson 