Composer's note:

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Last summer, I went to a composer-performer festival called soundSCAPE and received lessons from several composers including Shawn Jaeger. This festival coincided with a period of artistic crisis, wherein I felt so creatively drained that I abandoned a piece I had been working on for months. I just didn’t want to write music anymore because it didn’t feel like it was coming from my heart, and when I explain that to Shawn, he stated directly: “You have to write the music you want to hear, because no one else will write it.” This piece is dedicated to him.

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The three movements are respectively titled "Harmony," "Texture," and "Rhythm," in order to reflect the main musical element that I was focusing on when planning each. Movement 1 is born of ten 4- or 5-note chords that I wrote at the piano simply by following voice-leading that inspired me; movement 2 explores transparent, tender textures created by these instruments; and movement 3 is based on several rhythmic motifs that I found myself often coming back to. Of course, all three movements share overlapping characteristics - movement 1 is very rhythmically driven and uses sudden shifts in texture; the high point of movement 2 is full of lush harmonies; and movement 3 relies on its fast-paced voice leading and changing sonorities to propel it forward. As a whole, these pieces represent a snapshot of my current compositional voice without thinking about impressing my colleagues or teachers -- and while my original intention was not to share these publicly, I'm quite proud of the music that resulted.