Duration: 4:00

Difficulty: ★★★★☆

Released: 2018

Players: (1) flute + voice

Price: $15.00

SHEET MUSIC AVAILABLE AFTER PREMIERE

(written for Rama Kumaran)

 

About “nothing|wanting”

“nothing|wanting” was written in 2018 for my friend and outstanding flautist Rama Kumaran.

In late 2017, after hearing Aislinn Bailie premiere my piece “Outside The Pane” (for solo bassoon and voice), Rama Kumaran asked me to write him a similar piece for flute and voice. “nothing|wanting” is based on a poem I wrote in March of 2018 titled “The Four Seasons.” In this poem, I write about different types of relationships through the lens of the four seasons. “nothing|wanting” is based on part four, “The Where You Are,” which is about the concept of loneliness contextualized through the season of winter. Like “Outside The Pane,” “nothing|wanting” challenges the performer to quickly transition between playing flute and speak/singing throughout the piece. When writing this piece, I was trying to capture the sounds of a contemporary pop song while being limited to a single line of music. This resulted in the arpeggiated flute lines and the struggle of the performer covering both vocal and accompaniment duties. In addition to the struggle of alternating between playing and singing, the text provides additional challenges as it heavily features stuttered homophonic wordplay.

text taken from “The Four Seasons” by Clark Hubbard

The Where You Are

to freeze

trapped under ice

is it fear

or is it fine

only wanting

only longing

never finding

to think about the others

enough so that you don’t

experience where you are

what you are

who you are

the cold indifference

of significance

of the other

and the weather