Afterword, for two violins and piano

Commissioned by the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts

Year

2020

Duration

14 minutes

There is something noble, sweeping, and grand about looking back on life, reflecting on life’s triumphs, pains, joys, and mysteries. I composed this piece after Jessye Norman’s death, and listened to her sublime recording of Strauss’s autumnal Four Last Songs frequently. Strauss perfectly captures this feeling of contemplation, especially in the final song “Im Abendrot”. In Afterword, I make subtle references to this song.

I also composed this piece while reading Hanya Yanagihara’s novel A Little Life, which is at its core a meditation on life’s sweetness and anguish. Without spoiling the novel, one of the characters experiences unimaginable pain. To me there is something particularly poignant about someone who reflects on a difficult life: the shortness of it, how cruel it can be, how ephemeral, how sweet.

Afterword is dedicated to my great friend Jacob.

Premiere performance below, at the Barns at Wolf Trap by Danbi Um, Paul Huang, and Orion Weiss in February 2020

‍

Chamber Works

2022

'Til it was dark, for quintet

This work was commissioned by La Jolla SummerFest and premiered at the Conrad in La Jolla, CA in August 2022.

Afterword, for two violins and piano

Chamber Works

'Til it was dark, for quintet

Arietta, for bass and string quartet

Afterword, for two violins and piano

Dream Sequence

String Quartet No. 4

String Quartet No. 3

Duet, for violin and cello (or viola and cello)

Thirty Thousand Days

Brilena, for string quartet or string trio

A Fish Will Rise, for flute, clarinet, and piano

Constellations, for clarinet, viola, and piano

River Songs, for piano trio

Nocturnal Prayer, for cello and piano

Canzonetta, for saxophone quartet

String Quartet No. 2

Fishing, for narrator, clarinet, cello, and piano

Summer Night Music, for piano quartet

once, for violin and piano

In Passing, for Pierrot ensemble and percussion

A Song For A Friend, for cello and piano

Lullaby: No Bad Dreams, for violin and piano

String Quartet No. 1

Fractured Light, for viola and piano

Four Autumn Landscapes, for clarinet and piano

Subscribe to Chris' newsletter

Navigation

Works

Follow

Management