Ripples in the Silence

for flute, guitar, and harp (2020)
Duration: 5’

Silence is inevitable. It punctuates any sentence we speak, bookends any poem we recite or piece of music we perform. Indeed, silence circumscribes any sound we could possibly conceive, for every sound must begin and end in silence.

There must be, then, some naive impulse that inspires those of us who deal in sound — musicians, reciters, orators — knowing the fleetingness of what beauty we might create.

It reminds me of a child casting stones into a still lake, watching the fascinating patterns of waves left in their wake — despite knowing that the disturbances are temporary, that the water’s placidity always reasserts itself. Without any pretense of permanence; simply for its momentary joy.

This piece is inspired by that image. The music is merely a disturbance, a series of waves in the prevailing silence. Some are brief and gentle, as if initiated by a pebble; some are turbulent; others still are broad and sustained. But all inevitably subside to nothing, concluding as the water inevitably does: still.

Yet there is an irresistible delight in defying that inevitability, if only momentarily — the joy of casting stones, of creating ripples in the silence.

This piece was written for members of the International Contemporary Ensemble at Connecticut Summerfest 2020.