Tranquil Waters

In composing Tranquil Waters my goal was to take advantage of the incredible performers I had at my disposal, Erin Rodgers, saxophone, and Christopher Graham, percussion, and explore extended technique on their instruments. I found that this was no longer a piece which I could create using the language of pitch and rhythm, so I relied on sounds and timbre to guide the piece and my form. Through Tranquil Waters I explored the sounds and feelings I associate with water. Having grown up on Long Island, NY, and spending many of my summers working at Boy Scout Summer Camps throughout high school and college, I focused on two bodies of water I hold near and dear to my heart, the Ocean and a Mountain lake. The first movement Ocean View on a Gray Winter's Day was inspired by the images in my mind of a rough sea pounding against a snowy beach, the juxtaposition of the calmness of snow, the roughness of the Northern Atlantic, and the seagulls flying overhead created my mental soundscape from which to pull from. Misty Mountain Lake at First Light, the Second Movement, was not inspired so much as the sounds one would hear there, but the sheer excitement and subsequent calmness one can only feel by waking up next to a cold mountain lake, as I do every time I have that opportunity.