Instrumentation
string quartet
Duration
9 minutes
Program Note
sun-split was written across three cities (New York, Detroit, Toronto, and then New York again) in March of 2026. Despite these places all feeling like home to me to varying degrees, no matter where I went a strange Sebaldian feeling of alienation seemed to follow close behind. It was this sensation that informed the process of writing sun-split, and provided the throughline required to create a coherent work in shifting environments.
The piece begins simply, with a long, high cantilena in the first violin, out of which emerges a rocking triplet motive that forms the bulk of the work’s material. sun-split rotates between two worlds: the stable world, out of which the cantilena emerged; and a more foreboding world, which is underpinned by a droning E, persisting irrespective of whether it is a consonance or a dissonance. Ultimately, the piece collapses in on itself, and fades away with a recollection of the opening line, seemingly frozen in time.
sun-split lasts approximately nine minutes in performance.
Selected Performances
Avery Scott & Lou Barker, violin
Tristan Wilson, viola
Athos Maelstrom, cello
April 26, 2026 (World Premiere Performance)
The New School (New York, NY)
JACK Quartet
April 2026 (World Premiere Recording)
The New School (New York, NY)
Tristan Wilson 