This blog first appeared as a section of a post on my patreon. To see the pieces discussed, and the concluding restoration section of the project, sign up here. (No tiered subscriptions, pay what you want.)

lamentation two

for bowed sting instrument and piano

My original inspiration for lamentation two was mix of the coronavirus pandemic and anxiety. Throughout the pandemic I was struck by the repetition of see the same rooms, interspersed with brief moments of respite. I combined this with a rising background tension to create the structure of this piece.

It was during the creation of this piece that I decided to perform all the works in this project myself. At first I played both string and piano parts in lamentation two for simplicity, it was just easier than finding performers. But over the course of recording a personal link to these pieces developed, and I feel like they would be different if performed by someone else. Once the project is completed, I may look to have them recorded by someone else to see the comparison. But for the original iteration, and on Patreon, it became important to me that I am the performer as well as composer.

Interestingly, reactions to this piece have often spoken of it being meditative or relaxing. The string glissando contains enough changes in pitch and timbre to ground the listener in the moment, but also is unchanging enough to remain a background feature. Creating an atmosphere that is punctured by comparatively clear piano chords.

I’ll be continuing to post my reflections on the lamentation pieces here over the next few months. If you’d like to read them now, they’ve already been made available to my patreons here.