Three Journeys

For Flute, viola, cello
Year
2019
Duration
10'
Instrumentation
fl, vla, cello
Dedication
Eight Strings and a Whistle
Commission
Eight Strings and a Whistle

  • Program Notes

    Written for Eight Strings and a Whistle, Third Eye and The Inward Journey represent separate but connected journeys towards self-awakening, awareness, enlightenment and greater spirituality. These movements are a pathway to the realm of Nirvana.

    The first Journey, Third Eye, begins with a solo flute line; Quickly flowing from that F# is a brief and rapid six-note phrase. This solo represents a brief ceremonial calling- a willingness - to open and seek one’s inner truth. Thus, the odyssey can begin.

    The three instruments share similar energy- the viola and cello vibrating wood via bowed or plucked strings, the flute using life breath to vibrate a silver tube.

    Throughout the piece, longer stretches of uneven time signatures and differing lengths of sustained notes enable listeners to experience a feeling of being in the moment without measuring time as we do in the physical plane.

    Third Eye ends much like the opening with a single suspended flute note, now a high E. A seventh above the opening tone, the higher E symbolizes the seventh chakra (the crown chakra) which relates to pure consciousness.

    The Inward Journey is a very sustained, slow-moving, meditative and probing experience musically, as it is the actual journey (rather than a description) of leaving your world, the physical, the Earth plane, and all things familiar, including your comfort zone. The journey is hypnotic and it might 'test' your patience, as some phrases don't resolve more immediately as we experience in our popular (and much of Classical) music culture. Nonetheless there is an energy coming through, which overrides the initial Patience Stage- waiting/trying to hear or feel something/settling our thoughts/letting go of where we are, as we begin to transition in order to move into 'being in the moment'.

    Nirvana in Hindu and Buddhist religions is the highest spiritual state that can possibly be achieved. Imagine ones existance in the highest level of enlightenment. What does one go through to reach or achieve the realm of Nirvana? This music focuses on past experiences, emotional and spritual events which might be a path to this realm of pure enlightenment.

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