Abstract

Note from the composer

Lockdown in 2020; normal life stopped, and we were all thrown into limbo. We were like many civilizations before us, partitioned, but this time not by war, land, religion, or race, but by something we couldn't see. I was reading about Persia at the time and how despite being conquered and divided by other powers, their culture was something that survived - quite a poignant and powerful thought.

During this time, I realised that communication, arts, and culture were important more than ever before, and that the nature of these conversations and creative outlets had to adapt and change to order to work successfully.

I kept a note throughout this time of the conversations I had with friends and family; more specifically the flow of conversation over the phone or Zoom, and the balance between those included. Although we were partitioned in our prospective spaces, we could be connected via technology, shared experience, shared frustrations, anxieties, and small moments of joy.

This piece is a series of five small moments that are all loosely linked with motif or harmony. The premise is that over time, these moments represent conversations between two people with each person (cello or piano) contributing differently each time; sometimes it is an equal contribution, sometimes one might be more emotional support to the other, or one is particularly dominant. These conversations can happen in any order (performers can chose to play sections in isolation or even repeat a section more than once if desired) just as they would in real life.

Notations are an attempt at exploring the timbral possibilities that evoke emotion and patterns of conversation. All tempo markings are purely suggestive and the whole piece is fairly rubato and expressive.