Twisted Branches

Instrumentation: flute/piccolo, oboe/English horn, clarinet/bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, harp, percussion, and strings (2 2 2 2 1)

Twisted Branches was written for the Cleveland Chamber Symphony in 2019. The title signifies my focus on the shifting relationship between a complex whole and its parts. I draw upon the experience of looking up at a dense forest canopy through a pair of binoculars, imagining gradual changes in their focus. At first the canopy is a blur, at other times groups of branches or single branches fade or pop into and then out of focus. Perspective in the music shifts gradually toward and then away from the individual branches.