when the days begin to fade away (2017-2018)
Violin and Chamber Orchestra (1011.0000.piano.SOLO violin.strings)
Duration: 26.5’
Premiered by Emily Switzer (violin), Ian Niederhoffer (cond.), and the Yale Undergraduate Chamber Orchestra on April 21, 2018 at Battell Chapel, New Haven, CT
Winner of Beekman Cannon Friends Prize
program note
Immediately after discovering Ligeti’s violin concerto, I was astonished how the he made the traditional medium sound so fresh and visceral. I remember listening to that piece on repeat for months afterwards, and I knew then that I wanted to write my own violin concerto. In composing when the days begin to fade away, I wanted to capture extreme states that live within the dialogue between violin and a small chamber orchestra. Among these states were burbling textures, fragile and spare lines, scattered backgrounds with slow melodies, screeching high notes, and forceful clanging between orchestral hits and virtuosic, cadenza like playing. The title of the work itself refers to the time in which I completed this work, which was at the end of my undergraduate studies at Yale.
This work was written for and is dedicated to Emily Switzer.